Demon Kid
by Haraldur
Summary: Rated M. Somewhat AU, very OOC. Very strong, cynical Naruto. He went missing for a year at the age of six and plans to leave again when he considers himself ready. Missingnin fic. ...what is freedom? Is this freedom? To be alone? Cut off from [society]?
1. You are boring!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, etc. etc. etc..

A/N: Rated M so I can then not bother thinking about ratings at a later time. The story is very OOC, for Naruto himself, and somewhat AU. Naruto leaves Konoha at the age of six, but returns in a year, suddenly, on the night of the Uchiha massacre. A very strong Naruto, with completely different ambitions and personality to canon.

This is the first time that I have attempted a significant piece of creative writing, so please bear with any quirks, and point them out if important.

This fic uses the timeline found here:

http://forums(dot)narutofan(dot)com/showthread(dot)php?t(equals)12409

"Boo" speech

'Boo' thought

"Boo" Bijuu speech

'Boo' Bijuu thought

* * *

x

* * *

x

* * *

"Demon-Kid": 

May 26th, Naruto at age 6:

An ANBU Captain, codenamed Hanone, sat on the roof opposite the window of the apartment of a young, sleeping, blond boy. The only things visible in the darkness were his dog mask and his little orange book, held close to his body and under his head to shelter it from the rain, being read in silence. Icha Icha Paradise volume 1 was a glorious publication to be sure, but to giggle would be unbefitting an ANBU Captain, so the silence was once in a rare while punctuated by small coughing fits from the Captain, expertly suppressed by one with experience.

With a quick motion, the little book was closed and deposited beneath his cloak, safe, and he made a cursory inspection of his surroundings. He should not have bothered, it was nigh impossible to see more than a few metres distance in this deluge. Patiently, he waited for one of his subordinates to relieve his 6 hour watch. With a burst of static a woman's voice came through his earpiece:

"Sir, this is Tsuka. I should be at your position within 5, over."

The Captain pressed a button on the band around his neck and spoke:

"Very well. Target is still asleep, over."

"Understood. Out."

The 20-year-old sighed. May was always the most boring time of year, when watching over Naruto was concerned. The previous October 10th was but a distant memory, and preparation for the next had yet to be even discussed. As a result, the boy's security was a little more laid back at this time of year, but that could not be helped.

He mused on his charge, how the kid would inquisitively try seemingly anything during his waking moments, drawing the inevitable ire of the villagers who do not wish him to exist, let alone have him ask them questions about their lives, their jobs or their physical features. A few months back there had been a particularly delicate situation with an obese villager and his family, a family that had suffered many losses to the Kyuubi, after Naruto had seen the villager in the street and had asked, quite innocently, whether he worked in the circus as a clown due to his weight.

These incidents had been decreasing, however, as the boy seemed to be spending more and more time inside his flat rather than venturing outside, and had increasingly been becoming a bright, curious but incredibly jumpy child, despite having been out of the orphanage for barely a year. "Chucked out…" he corrected himself in a whisper. Of all the insults to his sensei…

He heard soft footsteps behind him, and the sound of the door to the roof opening, and turned to see his subordinate pass through the doorway. She walked up to him to inform him that the tea was ready, and went on watch.

Hanone opened the door and went down the stairs within, finally arriving at what had until a few months ago been the caretaker's storage room. "Nice little hovel we have here, now that you got the kettle, Tenzou," he said as he sat down to a medium sized table, took his outer mask off, then sipped his tea through his normal mask.

"Hai, Kakashi-taicho. You are supposed to have reimbursed me for it by now, though," said the mokuton user, sat on the couch watching TV with another black clad ninja.

"Oh, yes. I would have done it sooner, but a boy had lost his cat and he asked me to find it so--"

"Yes, yes, I get it!"

Kakashi smiled, as indicated by his crescent shaped eye, and resumed reading his much sought after copy of Icha Icha Paradise, Volume 1 while sipping tea through his mask.

"Nee, Kakashi-taicho… do you have many facemasks, or do you wash the gunk out of it everyday?" spoke a high pitched voice.

Kakashi looked up at the room's other occupant, a recent recruit into his squad, the Uchiha Clan's very own pet genius, Itachi.

"No, no, I have several. I even have some for special occasions. Do you want the name of my tailor, Ita-chan?"

* * *

A few hours later, the peace was shattered by the sound of a large blast coming from nearby to the south. The three of them in the room stood up and quickly put their masks and cloaks on and rushed outside as their earpieces became saturated with babble from HQ. 

"Tsuka, you stay here, the rest of us will go."

With a nod of the head Hanone and the other two rushed a few blocks to the south to ascertain what was going on.

* * *

As this was happening, a nearby group of three men broke up into an individual and a pair. The individual jumped up to the roof where Tsuka was standing, throwing shuriken as he landed. His two colleagues ran into the apartment building Naruto lived in. 

Tsuka ducked to the left from the shuriken, taking her farther away from Naruto than would be considered acceptable. From the way the shuriken were thrown she determined that the man was at least low ANBU/mid Chunin level in skill, assuming his abilities were typical. As she thought this she saw the streetlights pick up an odd redness in the eye of her adversary, which revealed it to be a three tomoed sharingan.

'Oh shit…'

* * *

x

* * *

Two men were now walking quietly along the balcony towards a flat's door. When they reached it, the somewhat shorter one kicked it down and they rushed in through to the bedroom, where a tired and frightened child was now sitting up in bed. There was a pause, until the men started pacing across the small room towards the bed, with the child backing up towards the corner. 

"Finally a chance to avenge our mother, six years too late," intoned the taller man as he stopped, his knees touching the edge of the head nearest Naruto. In the light from the streetlights through the window, the grin on his face made him resemble a demon spawned the Fire Country's own volcanoes. Suddenly he grabbed Naruto's right ankle and dragged him to the carpeted floor and the two men started kicking the boy as he curled up to protect himself. The high pitched squeals did nothing to discourage the men as the beating continued and lacerations started to appear all over Naruto's body. After some twenty seconds of this his bottom rib broke off near the spine and punctured his lung, which filled with blood. As he drowned his feeling decreased and the sounds seemed to grow quiet, until he finally lost consciousness.

The men paused as they saw the wretch at their feet still itself and stop screaming. "Is it dead?" asked the shorter man.

"Probably," said the taller one as he leant down to take the boy's pulse, 'if demons have pulses that is,' he thought.

As his hand reached the boy's neck a strange red chakra started flaming out. He straightened quickly and kicked towards the boy's shoulder. Just as his foot was about to contact the kid, a bone spike suddenly shot out of the kid's shoulder and went straight through his foot before receding. He screamed in agony as the little red demon stood up, its whisker marks now great triangular clefts in his cheeks and his eyes became slit. The standing and the hopping man took out kunai and charged at the little monster before them that then jumped at them with bone blades emerging from its palms while in flight, decapitating the taller man. The shorter man stood in shock as he saw his younger brother's body slump and his head drop towards the floor. This hesitation proved costly as the other bone blade was slipped through the back of his ribs and into his heart, killing him almost instantly.

The blood-soaked demon now stopped and started to cough out vast amounts of blood that had gathered in the brat's lungs. Finished, Kyuubi, the Nine-Tails, grinned to itself… '**Time for the brat to wake up…**'

The boy's body slumped, still surrounded by the red chakra. Opening his eyes Naruto pushed himself up off the floor and saw his formerly white blood red carpet, wondering why he was still alive. He turned his head, ignoring, or unaware of, the fact that he was surrounded by a red haze, and saw the bloody corpses of his former tormentors. His breath stopped and his eyes widened. After about a second he screamed and ran off, on all fours, through his broken door and down the balcony and through the streets towards the edge of town.

* * *

Outside, Tsuka and her Uchiha adversary were trading fire jutsu when they felt the presence of a sinister chakra they had not experienced for six years. Tsuka turned towards the flat but was prevented from going to it by a kunai that passed before her face, forcing her to turn back to her opponent. Unfortunately for her, this caused her to be caught in his eyes. 

Around her she saw giant worms burrowing their way out of the roof of the building and launching themselves at her. She tried to cancel the genjutsu, but found that it was at too high a level for her, causing her to have to dodge the worms instead.

* * *

Hanone, Karasu and Fukurou were leaping back towards their base, leaving other ANBU squads to deal with the situation they were leaving behind, to investigate the surge of eerily familiar charka, to all but their youngest member. As their base became visible through the rain, they could see Tsuka dodging seemingly invisible attackers, before they saw a man jump behind her and knock her out. They quickened their pace and, before the man had moved another centimetre, surrounded him. The man looked around at the three masks around him, and then relaxed, deactivating his sharingan in acknowledgement of his inferior position. 

Hanone read the signs that were being given to him by Karasu, Itachi, and said: "Uchiha Kouta, you will be coming with us. Karasu, you look after her," nodding towards Tsuka. Just after he said this, another ANBU team landed on the roof, and he turned to them. "This is Uchiha Kouta. He is under arrest. Escort him to the cells under the Hokage tower for now."

The captain of the other team nodded, and he and his men took Kouta away.

"Come, Fukurou, we must check up on our charge."

They walked towards the other side of the roof, and the sight they saw made them stop. The first thing they noticed through the window was the blood, then the two bodies on the carpet, and then the messed up bed. They ran around to the other side to the broken door, seeing only bloody foot and hand prints that then faded out, as if the blood was boiled off the body.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" Hanone put his hand on the balcony floor as some seals flowed out from it, before, with a puff of smoke, several dogs appeared, with a small one sitting on the head of a very large one saying, "Yo."

"Pakkun, I need you to find the Jinchuuriki. Now."

"Hai." With that, the nin-ken scattered.

* * *

x

* * *

May 27th: 

It was early morning in the Hokage's office as Sarutobi poured himself a large helping of sake. The door to the left of the room opened and a dog masked ANBU came through and stood before his desk, the door swinging shut behind him.

"Sit down, Kakashi-kun."

The ANBU looked to his left and pulled out a chair to sit on, sat, and removed his ANBU mask, looking at his Kage.

"What happened?" asked Sarutobi in a weary voice.

"From what we know now, Uchiha Kouta, a middle-ranking member of his clan, conspired with five other clan members, two genin and three chunin, to assassinate Uzumaki Naruto. They blew up an abandoned children's home with the three chunin laying in wait to keep us there once we arrived. They are being detained. While this was happening Kouta himself kept Tsuka away from Naruto, so that the two genin could kill him. However, it would seem that the Kyubi somehow awakened before Naruto could be killed (it appears though that this was after he was already almost dead, as we found some of his blood on the floor) and killed the two genin. It is unknown how he killed them, as Naruto was almost certainly unarmed, but the wounds were similar to those you would expect from a blade the length of Naruto's forearm.

"We found bloody tracks, Naruto's, coming out of his department, but they faded for a reason we do not know. I sent my nin-ken after him, but Pakkun says that the trail became lost due to the Kyubi's chakra filling a large area of the forest hiding Naruto's position by interfering with the dogs' sense of smell, and then vanishing after a time, with no trace to be found of a trail. In short, we have lost Naruto. He is nowhere to be found."

Sarutobi put his head in his hands and said, "And this is what I am supposed to tell the council?"

"They are just outside, Hokage-sama."

"Show them in, then, Hanone."

Putting on his ANBU mask he said, "Hai, Hokage-sama," and opened the door, allowing the councillors and clan heads to enter.

They filled the office, jostling each other, trying to be near the front of the crowd.

"So, what is this about?"

"There was an explosion last night Hokage-sama. We would like an explanation," came the voice of Aburame Shibi.

"The explosion acted as a diversion for an assassination attempt on Uzumaki Naruto."

There was silence, full of the unasked question: 'So is he dead?'

"It is thought that the child survived the attempt on his life. However, he is nowhere to be found," at this Sarutobi glanced at Hanone, "but searches are ongoing."

After a few moments, Yamanaka Inoichi spoke, "Does that mean, then, that your law does not apply anymore? That we can tell our children the truth?"

Sarutobi looked straight at the mind-reading ninja for at least two minutes. Eventually, he spoke, "If he is not found after 3 months, then the law will be repealed."

* * *

x

* * *

June 28th, a year later. Naruto aged 7: 

As the rain poured down on the road, though at a near horizontal angle, a small figure, clothed in rags, battled to walk through the mud. It was barefoot, either not having had shoes to begin with, or having just recently lost them in the mud. Abruptly, a gust of wind came from a different direction, making the figure fall onto its back in the mud. It struggled to get itself up, and as it succeeded, its hood was pulled down, due to sticking to the mud, revealing a shock of blond hair at near shoulder-length. Looking into the sky at the black clouds, with his whisker marks on the right hand side of his face pummelled by the sleet, Naruto grimaced as it was clear that it would take him a while to leave this squall.

He pulled his sodden hood back up and faced a little away from the wind to protect his eyes, so facing northwest, with the road heading north, and the wind coming from the east. He turned his eyes to right to see down the road. It carried on across the plain for a few hundred metres, before the forest would give him some reprieve. He could see little further, as there was then a turn in the road.

As he trudged on, his mind went back to thinking about why he was going back to that hellhole after so much time. 'I need to get strong enough that it will never happen again, and this is the only possible place.'

As he went on, he started to regret starting this last leg so late in the day rather than finding a resting place at the last town. No alternative now, though, since he should be over half of the way there by now, or so he hoped.

* * *

x

* * *

Some hours later, Uchiha Sasuke made his way out of the Konoha Academy and ran back to the Uchiha compound. Once inside, he noticed the lack of lights at a time when he would expect many. He ran towards his house. 

Some time later, Uchiha Itachi, genius and now slaughterer of the Uchiha Clan, dropped down to the outside of the village's walls, and started jumping from tree to tree, to get away from the place before they started searching for him. Only some seconds into this journey, he was intrigued by the appearance of a vaguely familiar presence that he could not quite place. It seemed to be on the road. Weighing the risks, he decided that it was probably safe enough to investigate.

Reaching the road, he saw a small child, not yet 8 years of age, struggling through the mud and shivering, his clothes soaked. He landed in front of the boy, who stepped back in a wary stance, and looked at his muddy face. For a moment he was shocked. Then he said, "You are that demon-kid aren't you?"

A stunned Naruto, noticing his Konoha hitai-ate, nodded in response. Itachi smirked. 'What an irony that the Kyubi should arrive just after I have slaughtered my clan, a mere year after some of my clansmen attempted to kill it…'

He leaped to the air and continued his flight from Konoha, leaving Naruto standing there, watching him with a confused expression on his face. After a minute or so, Naruto continued walking down the road, happy now be protected from the biting wind. A few minutes later though, he caught his foot on something, and fell flat on his face, covering it completely with mud. Getting back up, he inspected his foot. He was quite badly grazed on the top of it, but was too tired to cry out. Despite the mud, he could see it slowly healing before his eyes. After taking a quick look around, he pumped some of the fox's chakra to the foot, and then carried on walking.

"**Too much of a wuss to bear the pain then?**"

'Shut up.'

"**My my, you are a mouthy little brat.**"

'Just leave me alone.'

"**Hahaha… All this effort just to go back to that place. It is definitely more fun than I expected, to be trapped inside of a masochist.**"

'Just. Shut. Up!'

"**Hahaha…**"

Scowling, he made his way through the muck for a few more minutes, and then turned the corner, and then stopped. In the distance before him, to the east, he could see the entrance to Konoha. He then started walking towards it. 'This is it. I will go there, they will hopefully accept me back. I will feign ignorance about the fox, and then I will say that I want to go to the academy.'

* * *

On top of the western gates of Konoha, a tortoise masked ANBU was standing. Captain Midoriiro was looking curiously at the diminuitive person in the distance. He reached into his cloak and took out a small, standard issue, set of binoculars, and looked through them towards the diminuitive person. He, or she, was mud covered and wet, and looked very tired, and in some trouble. Almost certainly a lost child. 

He turned to his subordinate. "I am going to inspect that youthful individual coming our way." With that, he jumped into the forest canopy and travelled towards the child. After some seconds, he landed in front of Naruto, who was wondering whether this was some habit peculiar to Konoha ninja or standard practice everywhere. Naruto said, "Good evening, ANBU-sama," juddering the last two syllables as his jaw shivered.

Beneath his mask, Midoriiro's brow furrowed. This kid was in trouble. Well, who better than his youthful self to save him! "Good evening, kiddo! Once I have your identity, I will take you into Konohagakure!" He knelt down, oblivious to the mud, and made to rub the mud off Naruto's face. "So, what is your name, kiddo?" he said as he started to rub the filth off the boy's cheek. He then felt some odd lines on the boy's cheeks, and took his hands away in order to see them. As he did so, Naruto spoke, "My name is… Akuma-Gaki (Demon-Brat, Demon-Kid). You can call me Akki (Evil Spirit, Demon, Devil)." He thought back to what that odd ninja had said: '"You are that demon-kid aren't you?"' and smiled inwardly.

Midoriiro stared at him as he heard his words, saw his whisker marks and saw the blond hair under his hood. Such a feat of endurance for one so young! But why did he come back, and why did he call himself that, a joke? "Uzumaki Naruto, ka—"

"Don't call me that! My name is Akuma-Gaki, or Akki, if you prefer."

Midoriiro laughed, "A great joke, indeed. How impressive, to achieve satire at such a young age—"

"What is funny, ANBU-sama?"

Midoriiro stopped. Satire or not, this kid seemed serious about being called what he had always been called. Why would he want to be called a demon? "I am taking you to see Hokage-sama."

"Arigato, ANBU-sama"

Midoriiro grabbed the boy and stood up and ran to the gate. 'ANBU-sama? Why the deference?'

He ran towards the gate, not getting stuck in the mud at all, but floating on top of any he stepped on. As he went through the gate, one of his subordinates shouted "Word is that the entire Uchiha clan has been slaughtered." He nodded back and carried on. Was it true? How could it have happened? Well, he definitely would not be able to get to Hokage-sama quickly. Might as well get the kid cleaned up.

As he neared the Hokage tower he turned left towards Konoha Hospital. He slowed down as he reached it, and then walked in. He turned to the right and walked through to the accident and emergency section, and walked to the desk for ninja., as he knew the boy would be processed faster that way. "This boy has been out for a whole day, through the rain. He needs to be cleaned up, warmed up, and possibly treated for hypothermia."

"And why do you take him here? He is a civilian."

"He needs to be in a fit state to see the Hokage as soon as possible. This is my order as an ANBU captain."

Grumbling, the man relented and, after receiving directions, Midoriiro carried to the correct place, handed the boy to a nurse, and sat down on a chair next to a bed. After a few moments, the nurse shrieked and dropped the boy, who woke up with a squeal before sitting up, his jaw juddering up and down.

Guessing the cause of this, Midoriiro spoke: "I order you to see to this boy. You will treat him like any other patient. Is that understood?" the ANBU captain was standing up now, and the woman was staring at him in mild fright. He smiled beneath his mask. Against civilians, the death stance always worked. The position of yourself in such a way that the subconscious of the target thinks that you are ready to attack, to pounce, inciting a fear reaction in the target.

There would be no more problems.

* * *

Sarutobi was sitting behind his desk, every now and again getting more reports, usually about the rising death toll from the massacre. He massaged his temples. First, he needed to find out who had done this, and the motive would also be good to have. He needed to know whether the perpetrator was an outsider or from within the village. The worst thing, though, was that Konoha's strength had now been badly hit, losing one of its strongest clans in one day would be damaging both physically and to Konoha's pride and standing. 

There was a knock on the door. "Come in." The door opened and Sarutobi Asuma entered.

"Asuma."

"Uchiha Sasuke has been found. He is currently unconscious, but stable, in the hospital. Also, ANBU captain Midoriiro is there and wants to speak to you, I don't know what about. He wouldn't tell me."

"Hmmmm? I wonder what that could be. I will see Sasuke first then. Lead the way, Asuma."

"Hai."

* * *

Midoriiro stood outside the door to Naruto's hospital room, where the boy was sleeping soundly, drawing many stares from the large mud patches on the areas of his cloak on his knees and his chest, but remaining oblivious, or at least seemingly so. A door opened to his right, down the corridor. 'Ah, yes, the room where the Uchiha kid is being treated. Is it my chance now?' A moment later, through the door passed a white robed figure wearing the Hokage hat. 'YOSH! It is now my chance to give him some good news at last! THE EPIC STORY OF HOW ONE SO YOUNG MANAGED SO YOUTHFUL A JOURNEY! I HAVE BEEN INSPIRED, AND BECAUSE OF THIS I WILL DO 50 EXTRA LAPS OF KONOHA EACH MORNING, AND SO DEFEAT MY RIVAL KAKASHI, ALL THANKS TO UZUMaki Naruto… Akuma-Gaki, Akki. How will Hokage-sama deal with that?' 

Sarutobi turned to his left and walked towards Midoriiro, ignoring the mud on his cloak. "You said you had something to tell me."

"HAI, HOKAGE-SAMA!"

'Forgot that was Gai. This had better be good.' "And what is it?"

Midoriiro opened the door behind him, inviting Sarutobi to go through, which he did, and then closed it after coming in himself. They were in a small anteroom separated from the main room that Naruto was sleeping in.

"Hokage-sama! We have the Fourth's legacy back!"

Sarutobi was a bit taken aback by this. "What did you say?"

"We have the Nine-Tails' Jinchuuriki back! I found him on the road leading to the west gate and carried him here, it is apparent that he had walked a long way to get here. Such determination, such YOUTH! HE IS SURELY AN EXAMPLE FOR US ALL TO FOLLOW AND—"

"Yes, yes, quite, but did you find out anything about what happened when he was absent?"

"Er… no. Not as such. He fell asleep in my arms… Although, there is one thing, for some reason he no longer wants to be called Uzumaki Naruto."

"What?"

"I said—"

"I know what you said!" He sighed. "Inform me when he is up and well. Keep him here until I see him. Make sure word of this does not come out. Is that understood?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Good." With that, the Hokage left to deal with pressing matters of state, most of them involving the deaths of the Uchiha Clan. Gai entered the room where Naruto was, and turned to the nurse. "Well, it appears that you will have to stay here a while longer, miss…?"

The girl looked absolutely mortified.

* * *

x

* * *

The next morning, at approximately 8:00, Midoriiro glanced over the boy's clothes that were laid out on the bedside table. They were a short hooded cloak, an adult size shirt worn as a robe and an adult size pair of shorts fastened with rope. All were threadbare and full of holes, and still smelt of mud after being washed. The most interesting item, however, was a metal chain, of construction unknown to him, and on the end of it was something that obviously was not originally attached to it. It was a bottle cap. It was red, and rusted, and on it was written in a foreign script: 'водочка'. He has seen it before, in the store. It was a drink from the far west, and was called vodochka, or vodka, or some such. It had only been available recently, though, but this was an old cap. How did the boy get it? Either he was given it by a well travelled person, or he found it at a place where there were lots of foreigners: a port. Those were the most likely scenarios. 

There was a hiss of static, and then a voice came though, "Taicho, Hokage-sama will be there in less than 5 minutes."

"Understood. Out."

He heard the ruffling of bedclothes. He looked to the left to see that the nurse was still asleep underneath her coat. He felt a tug on his right hand, the one holding the chain. He looked to his right to see Naruto standing on the bed in his hospital gown, holding the end of the chain, the bottle cap, and who then said, "Please give that back."

Midoriiro humoured him, and Naruto dropped it around his neck, and then sat, cross-legged, on the bed. There was a knock on the door, and the Hokage the entered the room.

"Ah, you are up, Naruto."

"Please don't call me that. My name is Akuma-Gaki, but you can call me Akki, Hokage-sama."

"Akuma-Gaki is your name?"

"It, or things similar to it, is the most common label applied to me, so therefore it is my name."

Sarutobi sighed. "Does this mean that you know about the Kyuubi?"

"The what?" he lied.

"I see. Well, some years back we were attacked by the Kyuubi no Yoko, a nine-tailed fox demon. The only thing that the Yondaime Hokage could do was seal it into a new-born, as it was unkillable."

"Why me? Was I the only available new-born?"

"I don't know. You might have been."

"And why do I find out now?"

"Well… before you left, it was against the law to mention it, but everyone knows now, so you should."

"But why was it against the law?"

"This was an attempt to protect you from prejudice among your age group. We will never know, though, whether it would have been a success.

"What I want to know… Akki… Is what happened the night that you left, and why you came back."

'OK, time to make like an innocent and frightened infant.' "I woke up and there were these two men who started beating me, and then I fell asleep, kind of, and then woke up to find them dead and the place covered with blood, so I ran."

"And why did you come back?"

"I want to become strong enough to defend myself."

Sarutobi looked satisfied with that answer. "Now, what have you been doing over the last year…?"

Naruto look away. "I don't want to talk about it. Sorry, I just…"

Sarutobi reached out and put his hand on Akki's bare shoulder, where the oversize gown had slipped off, but the boy stiffened. Sarutobi could almost wear that he felt a pin prick in his palm, as if a spike had quickly appeared and disappeared. He quickly brought his hand away. "Sorry, Akki. Now, what is it that you want?"

"Want?"

"What is it that you desire? Where do you want to live, and so on?"

"Oh. Could I live where I used to live?"

Sarutobi look surprised for a moment. "If you wish…"

"I would also like to join the Ninja Academy."

"Granted."

"I would also like not to be followed by ANBU anymore."

Sarutobi now looked really surprised. "What?! How did you know that you were being followed?"

"I deduced that I would be, given that everybody seemed to hate me."

"Has anyone told you that you are very perceptive for your age?"

"No… should they have?"

The old man chuckled. "Yes. But will you be able to defend yourself without ANBU watching over you?"

"No, but the ANBU can then rush to save me, and whenever people try to kill me I fall asleep and I wake up with them dead…"

'So this has happened more than once…' thought Sarutobi. "Well… that is fine, I suppose… Anything else?"

"Just one last thing. Could I have total, unrestricted access to the Jutsu Library?"

"That is normally restricted to Jounins. Why should I give you access, Akki-kun?" he said, looking straight into the boy's eyes.

Naruto replied, "Everyone else will have people to train them. I want to be able to train myself, and not be restricted to E and D rank techniques."

"Very well, then. However, I am restricting access to the clan-specific techniques."

'There are clan-specific techniques in there?! Cool!' "Arigato, Hokage-sama."

"Well, I must be going. Midoriiro, I am going to inform the council of Na— er, Akuma-Gaki's return. Hanone's team will come to relieve you soon."

He turned, opened the door, and left.

* * *

x

* * *

July 15th: 

The sun cast its morning shadows across the tree-lined streets as Aburame Shibi carried his son, Shino, on his shoulders towards the Ninja academy. In front of them, a little way away, Uchiha Sasuke walked alone, as he had done for the last few days following his release from hospital. "Tou-san, when do you think Sasuke-san will recover? He has been out of the hospital for days, but he still hasn't talked to anyone."

"I do not know. It depends on him. It could happen quickly, it could not happen at all. There is not enough information for there to be a good analysis.

"Anyway, down you go, we have arrived," he said, lifting his son off his shoulders and placing him on the outer wall of the academy before vanishing.

Shino jumped off the wall onto the grass below, and walked into the academy building, through some corridors and into his classroom, and then to his seat. The noise and bustle was at normal levels, except for the area surrounding Sasuke, where, for the most part, people were being quieter and leaving him to his own thoughts. The dominant topic of conversation was still the news that the demon-kid, or so many people thought him, Shino corrected himself, had somehow returned to Konoha after having been presumed dead for almost a year. More accurately, it was discussion about why none of them had seen him yet. He looked over to the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata, sitting quietly a little away from the rest of the children, a little into the upper right corner area, from the perspective of the teacher, that was the least popular seating area, for the reason that there was a draft there from an old window frame. There had been a rumour going around that a political marriage had been discussed between the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans that would wed her and Itachi. Her behaviour was no different to normal, however, so she was probably unaware of the rumour, true or not.

At that moment his teacher, Umino Iruka, came jogging into the classroom. "Alright, class, settle down please." The bustle diminished and faded into nothing. "I have an announcement to make: at some point today we will be welcoming a new student. I, er, hope that you will do everything you can to make him feel at home…" He was interrupted by whispers among the class. Shino could hear parts of different conversations: "Do you think it will be the Kyuubi kid?" "He doesn't mean…" "Fucking bastard, I'll kill him!" "Whoever the person is, he will be months behind the rest of us. Do you think we will have to go over everything again?"

"Ahem. As I was saying, please make him feel at home. He has been in Konoha for a couple of weeks already, and has received some tutoring to get him up to your level, or at least to get him to a point where he would understand what I will be saying, which is why he has not joined us until today. In the meantime, I want you to form groups of three and work through the problems on page 22 of your textbook."

* * *

Half an hour later, there was a knock on the door. "Come in!" called Iruka. 

The door opened and a dog-masked ABNU, Hanone, stepped in. Immediately after him stepped a smaller but similarly black-clad figure. He had bright blond hair, three whisker-like marks on each cheek and empty looking blue eyes. He was wearing a black Yukata and a black backpack. There was something odd, however, apart from the colour of his clothing. Shino leaned forward in and tried to figure out what it was. After a moment, he realised what it was: the clothing was scruffy and fraying at the edges and looked like it was made of very cheap material, possibly sackcloth. Why would anyone ever wear such poor quality clothing, especially against their skin?

The boy then started walking up the stairs in the middle of the classroom. "Hey, you forgot your introduction!" shouted Iruka, barely veiling the hatred on his face, failing where he had succeeded before. Shino thought, 'So it is the supposed demon.'

"You do it," came the quiet, almost inaudible to Shino, reply.

Iruka's mouth twitched, but he then coughed and said, "Class, please welcome Akuma-Gaki Akki. Akki will be in our class for the next five years."

'Akuma-Gaki Akki?! What the? Who would name their son Demon-Kid Demon? Or maybe it is true that he really is the demon? Or has his name been changed? If so, why change it to that?'

Akki passed him on the stairs and sat down on the absolute top-right corner, next to the window, after taking off his pack. He took out a book which title Shino could not quite make out and started to read it, noticing, perhaps, that the others were doing group work. Shino supposed that he would be provided with more information with time.

He supposed wrong.

* * *

x

* * *

October 10th, Naruto's 12th birthday: 

Akki stood in front of the class, having been asked by Mizuki-sensei to perform a kawarimi with an overlarge log, a task the man knew he couldn't do. Akki smirked to himself, not caring that, this time, his smirk could be seen. He would have to perform the perfect miscast. His smirk widened. He started to do the seals, slowly and easily visible, feeling the chakra being moulded in his hands and then sent back to his body, waiting to be set off. As he set it off, he deliberately sent some extra chakra with it to the log, and in a different direction, not just a little, but quite a lot, and prepared for the rough landing.

A split second later, he was smashed sideways into the wall, while the log went the opposite direction and smashed straight into an unsuspecting Mizuki. As he slumped to the floor, Akki turned to look at his sensei. He hid his grin as he saw him stand up, cradling an apparently broken arm.

Akki stood up and walked back to his spot in the top right corner of the classroom. The window had long since been fixed, but, due to his presence, that area of the class was always empty, except for people who were late for class when any other seats were difficult to get to, and they always stayed on the edge of that area. He mused on what he remembered of his time in Konoha: he had been bottom of the class in everything, in every year, and so was regarded as a useless weakling as well as a demon. A contradiction, possibly, but it suited him fine. However, he still wanted to pass, so he would have to do well on the final exam. If he failed, he would be stuck in this place for another year, at worst. Not disastrous, but there was no need to make himself suffer more than necessary. Just five more days of the academy… After that, his movements would be more restricted than ever.

The commotion at the front of the classroom seemed to be dying down. Akki looked around and saw that people were starting pack their bags and go home. He dumped his stuff into his own, closed it and put it on. He turned left and opened the window, exited, and closed it behind him. He jumped on the roof of an adjacent building and leaped the way back to his apartment.

Once he arrived, he placed his hand on the frame at the spot where the catch was on the other side. 'There are no Hyuuga anywhere near me, this should be fine.' A short tendril of chakra snaked its way out of a tenketsu on his palm, going through the frame, grabbed the catch and opened it before receding back into Naruto's hand. He then pushed chakra to his hand, which then stuck to the window frame, and pulled, pulling the window open. He jumped in, closing the window, and the catch, behind him. He waggled his shoulders, sliding his pack off his back, and placed it on the bed, before opening the door to the kitchen and going through. He stepped into the closet, as if going for food, and closed the door behind him.

In the darkness, he groped for the light switch and flicked it. He reached down to the socket on the side wall and stuck the fridge plug into it, and turned the switch on the socket on. He then reached down to his knee and removed his yukata from covering it. He receded his skin from a spot on his knee and pushed his kneecap through a little so it stuck out. On it could be seen, in black, a seal like those typically seen in sealing scrolls. It was made up of many smaller seals. He pushed chakra towards the seal that said "sake". A bottle of colourless liquid puffed into existence, and he caught it before it dropped on the floor. On it was a label with the legend 'водочка'. He repeated the operation a few times, getting some bottles of fizzy cola drink. He placed all these into his fridge, his fridge that he only used once a year. His kneecap receded back into his body.

'That vodka will definitely have been worth stealing, hehe… Here's to you, Kisuke.'

"**I prefer that cloudy drink you had by accident once. Vodka is disgusting.**"

'Nigori sake, you mean?'

"**YES! Get that stuff!**"

'Sometimes I resent the fact that you can selectively experience whatever I do.'

"**You will get it though, yes?**"

'Yes, you know I like the stuff myself. It is nice and sweet.'

"**Good kit.**"

'Shut up.'

He left the closet, shutting the light and door after him. He left his apartment, by the front door this time, and jumped onto the roof. He looked around. It was a beautiful afternoon. In the distance he could see today's training ground, the area known as The Forest of Death. It was a circular patch of jungle with a tower in the middle, 20 kilometres in diameter. He was going to see how fast he could cross it. He landed in front of one of the 44 gates and looked around to see that he was alone. He jumped over the fence and into the trees. He ran a little deeper into the forest.

Eventually he reached a clearing a few hundred metres in, and landed in the middle of it. He put his hands into a familiar seal, the one for the first B-rank jutsu he had ever learned from the library. He smiled to himself, before too long he would be able to make this jutsu sealless, as he already could under controlled conditions. He passed chakra through his fingers and back into his body 200 times, and 200 clones appeared before him.

"The aim of this exercise is to improve our navigation, tracking and evading skills in a forest. We are going to scatter for 5 minutes, and then seek each other out while trying not to be found. When you have found another clone, sneak attack it to kill it. If you are attacked, but kill your opponent, then you win and carry on. No more shadow clones can be produced by any of us, nor will tails be used. Once I am the only one left, I will leave. Understood?"

They nodded.

"Go."

They all scattered. He then went himself.

Some time later, as he was travelling through the forest, he glanced his watch. 5 minutes were nearly up. '3… 2… 1… Now.' He sent a surge of chakra straight to his eyes, and his vision suddenly became extraordinarily sharp in the area governed by the fovea, and his peripheral vision range increased to nearly a full π radians. He pumped more chakra up to his eyes, and the area governed by the fovea became even clearer, and he started to look right through the trees. He looked around, but could see none anywhere near him. The next moment, he felt chakra being sent back to him. A clone had been despatched. Then another, and yet another. 197 clones left.

He jumped to the right and started searching for a target. He felt another clone die. '196.' Then he saw one and jumped back. He pumped more chakra to his eyes, and his range increased. He could now see his target again, and could see that its chakra amount in its eyes was lower than his. It hadn't seen him. The clone then ran off in a different direction and increased its chakra amount. 'Perfect, he has found one, so I have two targets. I can only put in a little more though.' He pumped more chakra into his eyes, and they started to ache badly. This was more than he had ever used in them. Still, no pain, no gain. He could feel the veins at the side of his head throbbing badly, but kept the chakra amount steady as he ran, every so often taking looks around and through the forest to make sure he was not being followed.

At last he saw his target's target, apparently without a target of its own, its white eyes searching around as it wandered aimlessly through the forest. Naruto changed direction so that he was now running parallel to, and gaining on, his target and its target. He just now could see his target getting in position to strike. 'I won't let you!'

He sent chakra to each of hands and out of their tenketsu, adding both lightning and earth manipulation to it. A moment later, he felt the warm metallic handle of a kunai in each of his hands. He brought his left hand in front of his face with the kunai in it and then threw it at his target's throat, its path in the shadows as much as possible, to be difficult to see amongst the light, due to the comparative lack of contrast. The kunai flew through the air and sliced the clone's throat open, and the clone then puffed away. Unfortunately, his other target heard this and was now charging at him. He ran at him, and thrust his palm at it, but the clone dodged and sent its own palm. Naruto jumped up to avoid it and kicked the clone in the face. The clone now started falling down and so couldn't dodge. Naruto threw the other kunai at the clone's throat and it puffed away.

The next hour was spent in pretty much the same way. By the time that he killed the last clone, he was pretty shagged out and was panting on a branch, his eyes back to normal. He pushed his kneecap out again, and summoned back into existence a flask full of water, which he drunk dry before returning and receding his kneecap. He looked up at the sky. It would still be light for a couple of hours, he had plenty of time. He inspected himself. He was wearing what was left of his yukata tied around his hips, covering his shorts.

* * *

Mitarashi Anko was watching Akki from a distance. She had been alerted to his presence some time earlier when she had been sent here to inspect the tower to make sure it would be ready for the next Chuunin exams that were in Konoha. She had heard some sounds of fighting and arrived only to see that both combatants had disappeared, with a kunai still falling to the ground. 'A genin, huh? Or an academy student? Probably a genin. What is that little shit doing in MY obstacle course? He is good looking though,' she thought, licking her lips unconsciously. 'Unfortunately, I am not allowed to kill academy students, and the old man will probably be pissed off if I kill a genin…' She started leaping towards Akki's position.

* * *

Naruto thought he heard footsteps coming in his direction, but did not move as he thought himself too tired to either run or fight effectively, as he was still panting heavily. As soon as he thought this, he law a pair of feet and legs, surrounded by the bottom of a tan trench coat, land in front of him. 

"Konbanwa, kunoichi-sama," said Akki. Anko was a little taken aback. 'What is that little shit up to?'

"What is your name?

"Akuma-Gaki Akki, kunoichi-sama."

"The Kyuubi kid, huh. What are you doing here? This is a forbidden and dangerous area," she said in a tone that indicated that she, at least, did not consider it dangerous, or indeed forbidden.

"Training. This place suits my needs: quiet, large and with lots of cover."

"Training, huh? You really are a cocky little twat, aren't you? I'll train you, I specialise in training people to GET THE FUCK OFF MY OBSTACLE!" She then lunged at Akki, kunai in hand. Surprised, mid-pant, Akki did the only thing he could think to do at this point. With practised precision, he moulded chakra in his abdomen in the shapes of the seals used in the kawarimi technique. With the kunai just millimetres from his left eye, he released the chakra, swapping his position with Anko, allowing him to jump off the branch and onto an adjacent tree and get into a ready position, his hands at his chest ready to form seals if necessary.

An unsuspecting Anko tripped as her position was changed. She put her hand down on the branch and flipped herself so that she was now standing sideways against the trunk of the tree facing the boy, her trench coat hanging at a right angle to her body. 'Impressive. His jounin-sensei must be good. I wonder who it is. Kakashi-kun? Hehehe…' "Nicely done, gaki. Your jounin-sensei must be good. Who is it? I want to castrate him personally for allowing a shit like you into my area."

"I have no jounin-sensei. My genin exam is in five days time, kunoichi-sama."

She doubled over laughing. When she had recovered, she said, "No, really, who is it?"

"What is funny, kunoichi-sama? I am just an academy student, and I am bottom of my class."

She glared at him. "Trying to insult me, are you?"

"No, kunoichi-sama."

She sneered. "We'll see about that! Kuchiyose no jutsu!" She did a quick set of seals after biting her thumb and placed her bloody hand on the branch below her. A huge snake appeared with Anko lying on top of it. She righted herself. She and her snake were now coming straight for Akki.

'Fucking crazy bitch is trying to kill me. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! FUCK! I've got to get out of here in one piece without revealing anything of significance. Ah… I hope this works…' He started making seals for the kawarimi while the kage bunshin seal was being formed in his abdomen a little shakily. He had now finished the kawarimi seals, but the kage bunshin seal was still unfinished. 'Shit! Come on comeoncomeon! Yes!' He released the last of his easily accessible chakra reserves in one blow.

* * *

As she was bearing down on him, Anko could see Akki making seals. 'Kawarimi? Why is he making seals now when he didn't need them before?' She then saw him finish the seals and pause. 'He's stopped! What the fuck is the bastard waiting for?' After a few seconds, when she was now very close, she got the answer. There was a puff of smoke and Akki disappeared. 'The object will be here in just a moment,' she thought as the snake lifted its head high so she could see which tree toppled over. However, not just one single tree toppled, but hundreds, all around Anko's position and at different distances. Her eyes widened. 'That wanker he… oh fuck!' She heard the thumping sound of the replacement log arriving, and then the sound of another log smashing into it and sending it flying, and then again, and again, until there were hundreds of logs flying in the air in all directions. 

She dived down onto the snake's head and started frantically making seals. "Hebi-hyouhi no jutsu!" Her trench coat expanded to cover her whole body in a protective dome. She could feel the snake underneath her being pummelled by the logs and could see when they bounced off her trench coat. 'That cunt's going to get it when I see him again, and I will!'

Meanwhile, the summoned snake had got tired of being pummelled to death and unsummoned itself. As she was dropping, she shouted "Sen'eijashu" (Hidden Shadow Snake Hand) and snakes came from one of her hands and grabbed onto a nearby tree and pulled her towards it, and she 'landed' gracefully onto its trunk, sideways. She looked around to survey the damage. Hundreds of trees had been felled, and hundreds more badly damaged. She giggled, and then started cackling maniacally. 'He sure has guts, but I don't believe him for a second when he says he is in the academy. Lying scumbag.'

* * *

Meanwhile, a winded Naruto was running as fast as he could towards the edge of the Forest of Death. His arm and three of his ribs were broken on his right side, as a result of being hit by a flying log during the replacement itself. It had worked, but he wasn't going to add the technique to his collection of frequently used ones. However, the prospect of doing two techniques at once excited him. 

The fence was now in sight. He jumped over and landed on the other side and kept running until he reached the village, hen he leaped from roof to roof until he was back in his flat. He leant against the door, sweat gleaming off his body in the sunlight from the west facing window, and leaving a wet patch on the door. With effort he extracted some of the fox's chakra and sent it to his arm and ribs to heal them. He slid down the door, leaving a sweat streak, until he was sitting. After a minute or two, when his heart had settled down, he stood up and walked into the kitchen.

He lay down on the bar with his head in the sink and turned on the cold tap to cool his head and quench his thirst. After a while, he stood up and walked to his bedroom and opened his wardrobe. In it there was only one remaining black yukata. He looked beside the wardrobe at what he called his "sewing basket", a linen basket full of broken, torn or burnt black yukata, and beside it was a large roll of cheap, black fabric. 'Fuck it, I'm not sewing tonight,' he thought, as he opened the window and left.

* * *

x

* * *

Teuchi was serving a customer when underneath the blinds he could see a pair of bare juvenile male legs drop to the ground, and he saw the owner of the legs walk through the blinds. 

"Training again, Akki-kun?"

"Hai, Teuchi-sama. May I please have 3 pork miso ramen, and 2 beef miso ramen, and a serving of nigori sake? It took me an hour and a half to sneak my way here." It was the same every October 10th, it would take ages to travel anywhere during the evening if he wanted to avoid trouble, and he had had enough of that that day already.

Teuchi looked around and noted that all of his other customers had taken the tables furthest from the bar. "I will get your ramen immediately." As he put the first bowl down he dropped a rolled up piece of paper on the table. Akki picked it up and read it: 'Meet me around the back when you are content. The food and drink will be free tonight. Happy birthday, Akki-kun.'

Akki smiled as he started slurping up his ramen with record speed, even for him. He didn't talk much to anyone, including Teuchi, but for a reason he couldn't fathom, he always gave him free food on his birthday.

* * *

Twelve bowls later, Teuchi caught his eye and nodded at him, and then went to the room behind the bar. Akki stood up. He walked out the blinds, the streets thankfully quiet, as the party was being held in front of the Hokage monument. He jumped onto the roof, walked across it, and landed in the deliveries area amongst the stacks of ingredients. He walked out in front of the old man, and took the bag that was on the floor. "Doumo arigatou gozaimashita, ossama." 

Teuchi nodded in reply as Akki left, and then sighed. He found it distressing that the person carrying such a burden for his village would embrace his low social status in such a way. 'Hopefully, once he is a shinobi he will gain the favour of the villagers, but I don't understand why he would want to.'

* * *

x

* * *

Anko was sitting outside the Hokage's office, waiting for her turn. She heard the handle of the door being turned and saw Sarutobi Asuma walking out and lighting a cigarette. She stood up and walked through the door, closing it behind her. 

"Ah, Anko-kun! What is it?" asked Sarutobi, looking up from a file.

"I performed the inspection of the site, as you asked, Hokage-sama. As far as I am concerned, it is ready for use in the exam. However, I have a question: who is Akuma-Gaki Akki's jounin-sensei? I have some words for him."

"Jounin-sensei? You are mistaken, Akki is still in the academy, bottom of his class. Why do you ask?" he said, noticing a vein on Anko's temple throbbing.

"There is no way that that little shit is still in the academy! Look at this!" she said, placing a scroll on the desk, which Sarutobi picked up.

'A memory scroll?' he thought. 'Why did she give me a memory scroll?' He placed it back on the desk and unrolled it, revealing a seal. Anko bit her hand and wiped it on the seal, and a moving image with sound appeared in the air above it. It showed the perspective of someone leaping from tree to tree while hearing the sound of a fight, and then showing a kunai dropping to the ground. It then showed the person searching around for someone, and then seeing Akki half naked panting on a tree branch. Then came the sound of Anko's voice, echoing a little, "A genin, huh? Or an academy student? Probably a genin. What is that little shit doing in MY obstacle course? He is good looking though. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to kill academy students, and the old man will probably be pissed off if I kill a genin…"

"I did not know your tastes tended to ones so young Anko." She pouted and turned her head away.

Sarutobi then heard the exchange of words, then the sealless kawarimi, and then the explosion of logs, and then the film stopped.

"See? There is no way the little bastard is in the academy!"

"I am afraid he is, though, Anko, unless he was being impersonated and, if so, they captured his manner of speech very well. I will look into it, though. Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

Anko bowed and left. Sarutobi thought to himself, 'Either this is Naruto, in which he has done a very good at deceiving us, and in an unorthodox way, since the typical pattern is to pretend to be average, not bad, or we have a spy who for some reason disguised himself as Naruto, which is even stranger.'

He rang the bell on his desk and an ANBU squad. "Fukurou, I want you to fetch Kakashi. Don't just tell him, fetch him. I want him here immediately. The rest of you, I want you to search the Forest of Death for anything suspicious, though I don't expect you to find anything except kunai and fallen trees and logs." The four nodded and went their separate ways.

* * *

Kakashi was standing in front of the war memorial looking, rather than at Obito's name, instead at the name of the Yondaime, Kazama Arashi, and thinking of the Kyuubi vessel that, as ANBU Captain Hanone, had been his charge for so long. What had happened to him since he came back, what happened while he was away? He was completely different to how he had been before that night; there were few conversations where he had said anything but "Hai, X-sama," or some similar thing. He sometimes wished that the Sandaime actually had given him to Ibiki, just so that he could know exactly what had happened as a result of the second biggest mistake of his career, from his point of view. 

'Now all there is is what seems to be a husk of a human being who wants to get stronger so that he can defend himself and, as test results would indicate, failing miserably at it. Would it have happened anyway if—'

He was interrupted in his musings by the sound of someone landing behind him. He turned to face an owl faced ANBU, who said "Kakashi-san, Hokage-sama instructed me to take you to him, please come with me."

Kakashi smiled, he could still recognise Tenzou's voice under the ANBU voice distortion system, and nodded, and they shunshined (body flickered) their way to the Hokage's office. "Ah, Kakashi-kun, please sit down." He did so.

"What is it, Hokage-sama?"

"If I remember correctly, you presented an interest in training Uchiha Sasuke after his graduation. Am I correct?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Well, this is the team I am considering giving you this year, if they all pass the preliminary exam," he said as he passed Kakashi a slip of paper. Kakashi looked at it and saw the names: Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata, Akuma-Gaki Akki. His heart stopped for a moment as he looked at the last name: 'Demon-Kid Demon, yes, that is the name he took. What is this all about?'

"I am confused. I thought the Hyuuga would be in Kurenai's scouting team? Who would replace her? Also, Akki is not even expected to pass the preliminary, and the bets are that he would be put in with a team of no-hopers if he did somehow pass."

"The Hyuuga was initially considered only for the scouting team, that is true, but there is a reason for her being in this team. She will be replaced by Haruno Sakura, who might make a potential medic, possibly. It is messy, but it might have to be done. As for Akki, well, he is the reason for Hinata being on this team."

"Oh? Why is that?"

"Mitarashi Anko was inspecting the Forest of Death for the Chuunin exams this afternoon and encountered someone who looked and acted like Akki there, and challenged him. This person managed, in quite quick succession, to replace his and her positions when she attacked him and, after she had summoned a snake, to somehow replace himself with logs at least 200 times, possibly by combining a cloning technique with the kawarimi, and so nearly killed her because of the hundreds of flying logs, not to mention significantly scarring the forest. If Akki passes, which given his performance over the last few years the feeling of deceit, it might well have actually been him. I am putting him on your team, where all the other three would, if Sasuke got his, have doujutsu, so that he can be kept an eye on. Particularly that is the reason why Hinata is there. You must convince her to observe Akki, but in such a way that does not tell her that he is under suspicion of anything. Is that understood?"

Kakashi looked a bit bewildered, but said, "Hai, Hokage-sama." 'Well, maybe I will be able to make it up to him, somehow, now?'

* * *

x

* * *

Naruto placed his hand against his window frame and used the chakra tendril to open the catch before entering the window and closing it behind him. He dropped the bag on the table and heard the sound of the bottle within impacting each other. It had taken him a long time to get back to the flat, but now at last was the time where he could get smashed and forget his troubles for a few hours. He stepped into the bathroom and had quick shower before putting on his last remaining yukata, hoping that he wouldn't have to sew the others until tomorrow, that is, not to ruin his last one. 

He walked into the closet and turned the fridge off. He wouldn't be needing it again for a while, if at all, if all went to plan. He opened it and took out the large bottle of vodka and the cola drink and went back into the kitchen, placing them on the table and unpacking the bag, revealing 3 bottles of nigori sake, sweet nectar. He chuckled to himself as he reflected that he was very young to be drinking such large amounts of ethanol, but would never experience a hangover in his life.

He walked over to his cheap stereo system, putting in his CD of music that had only recently come to Fire Country: Oi!, ska and punk. A few punk riffs came from the machine, and then, "This song is dedicated to Jiraiya-sama and Sarutobi-sama!... Drunk sake in the hot sun, I fought the law and I won, I fought the law and I won. I needed sex and I got mine, I fought the law and I won, I fought the law and I won. The law don't mean shit if you've got the right friends. That's how the country's run. The girls are the best friends I ever had, I fought the law and I won, I fought the law and I won. I blew another customer's money with my girl, I fought the law and I won, I fought the law and I won. Gonna write my book and make a million, I fought the law and I won, I fought the law and I won. I'm the new folk hero to every man, my girl-friends thinks that's fine, you can get away with anything when a Sannin, I fought the law and I won, I fought the law and I won, I fought the law and I won, I am the law, so I won…"

By this time, Naruto was singing along. 'Now for some company. Clones are better than nothing.' He grabbed hold of all the bottles in his arms, with his hands on the other side, and formed the kage bunshin seal. A moment later, there were four Naruto's around the table, each with the same amount of drink with them. The real Naruto looked at the label on the bottle, and then on the bottle-cap on the chain around his neck. 'Here's to you Kisuke, Shinji, Kenshin.' He took off the screw top off the bottle and swigged some. His throat burned, just like it did every year. He replaced the top and, along with his clones, started to mix and match nigori sake with cocktails of cola and vodka.

* * *

x

* * *

October 15th: 

Naruto woke up with a smile that day. 'Today will be my last day of academy, and then I will get real tuition, enough to get strong enough so that it never happens again.' He sat up and slowly made a set of seals, in such a way that they could be disguised as some sort of religious ritual, that he did each morning. He felt his skin tighten as the jutsu came into effect. This technique gave resistance to all his movements, effectively making him stiff jointed, allowing him both to train his strength and to disguise it and his agility. It also required varying chakra supply depending on his movements, making chakra control very difficult which, again, suited his purposes. The amount of resistance could be varied by chakra as well, allowing him to vary the severity of the training. He called it gikochinai no jutsu (stiffness technique).

He remembered back to the previous day: there had been a review of all the academy jutsu. When his turn had come up, he had transformed into a naked woman in front of Iruka-sensei. He giggled a little to himself, before adopting his normal persona: robotic and emotionless to the best of his ability. He dressed, as normal, except that today he did not put on his chain, but placed it inside his kneecap, for safety. He would be a ninja tomorrow and, despite the fact most missions were D-ranks, he really did not want to lose it.

Today he was wearing his normal black yukata and black shorts but also, unlike a few days ago, his shuriken holster on his right thigh, in the same cheap black cloth, and his kunai pouch. He looked outside to the window, and saw that it was going to be a very sunny and hot day. He took a brown fedora out of his wardrobe and put it on. He had found it around the back of a novelty shop, and it was functional enough.

Today was also the day of the last payment he would get from the Hokage, assuming he passed the Genin exam. He would have to pick it up.

He picked up his pack, put it on, and left the house, feeling the sunlight against the side of his face. He walked down a few streets until he got to the Hokage tower and the bank within that was used for ninja. Once he had entered the bank, he walked over to the cashier's desk and he was handed a packet of money by the chuunin at the desk, who was looking decidedly bored. The money was supposed to last the month, but Naruto never used much of it. He still had enough left over from the payment from three months ago for his infrequent meals at the ramen stand, infrequent because he did not want to scare away the old man's custom.

He left and walked down a deserted side street. He then stopped and quickly did the seals for a henge, transforming into a tall, brown haired young man wearing an expensive looking kimono and hakama. He continued down the street and then turned left, walking for a bit until he got to a civilian bank, which normally would not even let him enter. He entered and went to the cashier's desk and said "Hello, I am Yamada Tarou. I would like to deposit this into my account. Thanks…"

* * *

He arrived at the academy, untransformed, some minutes later. 'The security there is and has always been non-existent. I wonder why they allow it to be so lax in a ninja village.' He turned the corner in the corridor and then entered the classroom door. 'Ah, Mizuki is back, finally recovered. Good for him, I suppose. Haha…' He walked to his normal seat and sat down. 

Mizuki looked at him. 'There's the bakemono. I am going to use that bastard and then kill him.' He smiled and waved at Akki, who just stared at him. 'Definitely. I am going to get the scroll and kill him.'

Some hours later it was Naruto's turn. "Akuma-Gaki Akki, your turn," came Mizuki's voice. Akki jumped down the stairs and went through the door to the examination room. There had been a delay for his turn, but it was probably nothing. "Bunshin no jutsu," said Iruka

"Hai, Iruka-sensei."

He slowly performed the seals, making sure that be got it right despite gikochinai no jutsu. As he set off the chakra, he noticed Mizuki doing a seal behind Iruka, that of Jutsu Shou, the technique neutralisation technique. As a result, the clones flickered to existence and then immediately disappeared just before completion. "Akuma-Gaki Akki, fail," said Iruka.

Akki glared at Mizuki before leaving by the other door and going to stand on the swing. He filtered out the noise of the parents congratulating their children, it did not interest him. 'Fucking cuntcasket Mizuki. I am going to disembowel him and then feed it to him!' At that moment, Mizuki landed by him wearing a smirk.

"You sabotaged me. Here to gloat over your success?"

"Oh, no. I just have something I want you to do. In return, I will pass you. It is an unofficial test we give to those we think should have passed. Interested?"

"If that is the case then why did you sabotage me?"

"I don't like you, but I am giving you this opportunity."

'Meh. If he is lying I can kill when no one watches, I suppose. I will certainly injure him.' "Go on."

"I want you to take the Scroll of Sealing from Hokage tower and bring it to me. You will meet me at…"

* * *

x

* * *

Naruto was sitting down on the ground in a clearing; poring over the Scroll of Sealing; copying it all down in case he ever had a use for the stuff, except of course for the passages detailing kage bunshin no jutsu. Bunshin daibakuha (clone great explosion) looked interesting, but the rest of them were only really useful for particular circumstances, most of which allowed you some time of preparation. He would definitely be training bunshin daibakuha over the next few days or more, it looked worth it. He rolled the scroll back up and put it on his lap, while sealing the copy back into his kneecap.

* * *

Iruka was running through the forest, searching for anywhere where the demon-boy could be. 'What is he doing? Trying to unseal himself? If so, I must kill him before he succeeds. What other reason could there be?' He came to the fifth clearing so far, and saw the boy sitting down with the scroll on his lap, seemingly waiting for something. "Akki? What are you doing with that scroll?" he asked. 

"Konbanwa, Iruka-sensei. Mizuki-sensei said that there was an unofficial test where if I took this scroll here and showed you a technique from it, I would graduate as a genin. Was he wrong?"

"Mizuki told you that?"

"Hai."

At that moment a stream of kunai were thrown at Akki. Unfortunately, he still had gikochinai active and so was only able to dodge half of them, the others sticking into him, but not causing any significant damage. He picked up the scroll and turned his empty stare towards Mizuki, who was standing on a tree branch. "It is now obvious that there was no test. You are either trying to take the scroll, kill me, or both. Here, Iruka-sensei," he said, chucking the scroll to Iruka who caught it while looking at him dubiously.

"Hehe, bakemono, I am going to kill you as should have been done 12 years ago, and then I am taking that scroll, whether you like it or not, Iruka."

Akki stopped gikochinai, enjoying the freedom of movement he now had, and ripped the kunai out of his body while wincing slightly. He now had three, one in his left hand and two in his right. He threw one of the two in his right hand at Mizuki's throat at what was considered high genin speed and charged at him. Mizuki caught the kunai that was thrown at him and dropped to the ground and ran towards Akki holding the kunai in his hand. Just as they were about to reach each other Akki did a quick set of seals and, before Mizuki could do anything, replaced himself with a log, which crashed into Mizuki's chest and abdomen, winding him and causing him to fall over. At that moment, the log disappeared and Akki reappeared in its stead, having used kawarimi a second time, and stamped his foot down hard on Mizuki's neck, which made the snapping sound as it broke and Mizuki died.

"No one kills me, I will never let anyone kill me," Akki said as he kicked Mizuki again to make sure he was dead.

Iruka, who had watched all this, stared at him and thought 'Nothing he did was particularly spectacular, but he used the kawarimi well and, well, if he dies on a mission there is no loss, so… Also, of course, it means I wouldn't have to teach him…' "Akki, pick up Mizuki's corpse and come with me."

"Hai, Iruka-sensei."

* * *

x

* * *

"So you say that Mizuki used Jutsu Shou when you were doing the Bunshin technique?" 

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Please perform bunshin now."

"How many?"

"10."

"Hai."

With a quick flash of seals and the setting off of the chakra, there were now 10 bunshins positioned around the room. "That is sufficient, you may release the jutsu."

Akki let the clones vanish and was passed a hitai-ate by Iruka. 'Finally.' He tied it loosely around his neck, the place that was least likely to have a bone grow out of it and yet still look normal. He then quickly bowed and said, "Doumo arigatou gozaimashita."

"Iruka, Akki, you are both dismissed." 'Naruto seems to show a certain willingness to kill that is disturbing in one so young, but I suppose that can be a benefit to a shinobi.'

* * *

x

* * *

October 17th: 

Akki walked into the classroom just as he normally did, attracting a few stares as he walked to his normal seat. Shikamaru shouted, "Oi, bakemono, only those who passed are supposed to be here. Get out!"

"Moushiwake arimasen (a very formal expression for "sorry") Nara-sama, demo..." he said, pointing at the hitai-ate tied around his neck. 'Like a collar… Hehe... Should I be encouraged or disheartened by the fact that everyone accepts my deference and formality, now? The positioning of others lower than themselves in the social ladder is one of the worst things in human society.'

"Eh? How did that happen?"

"The Sandaime allowed me to retake the test."

"Wha? Why the hell would he let you retake?"

"I do not know. You could ask him."

As he said that Iruka walked in. "Ah, good you are all here. We can start then," he said over the noise of the Sasuke admiring girls. "Beginning today, all of you are real ninjas. But you are still merely "rookie" genin, the hard part has just started. Now… You will soon be assigned duties by the village. So today we will be creating the 3 man teams… And each team will have a 'jounin' sensei. You will follow that sensei's instructions as you complete the assigned duties. We tried to balance each team's strength…" There was a little of a stir when the teams were mentioned.

Akki thought, 'Real ninjas? Pffft. Unless I am lucky or unlucky, nothing will happen until the chuunin exams. Teams? Why is everyone acting so surprised? Do they not go to the library?'

"… Team 7: Akuma-Gaki Akki, Uchiha Sasuke ('Expected, and according to plan. At least I will have a decent team now.') and Hyuuga Hinata." 'What the fuck? Since when did they put the dead last with someone not far above the dead last? Oh, feck, it's a Hyuuga, now I won't have even a moment of privacy. Everything is fucking cocked up now. I will have to change the plan again. First that crazy bitch in the forest, then Mizuki and now this. Wait… They didn't place her in my team because of what happened in the forest did they? Have they been suspicious of me for a while? No, that woman must really have asked about my non-existant jounin-sensei. Damn her. An Uchiha and a Hyuuga spying on me, that really is all I need…' He turned his stare towards the Hyuuga girl, who had remained the closest one to him in the seating arrangement. 'Such a timid person. If I am right to be paranoid, it is important that I get to her before my new sensei. Either that, or sacrifice some of my secrecy for the sake of being seen as absolutely loyal to Konoha…'

"OK, this afternoon we'll introduce the jounin senseis. Take a break until then."

* * *

The Hokage opened the door, Kakashi following soon after. "So this is his house? I did not imagine it being so bare," he said to the old man. There were no pictures on the walls, and the floor near to the walls was dusty. 

"Yes, this is his house." They walked into the kitchen, the floor here also dusty except for a trail that led to another door, a bedroom, and to a window, heavily used, and a thin one leading to a closet, recently used, but before that not for a long time. Standing on the heavily used trail, they noticed that all the kitchen surfaces, except for the table and the area around it, were dusty, it seeming that the table had been used recently but not at all before that. Akki obviously did not cook, or at least not here, and did not often store food, or at least not in this room. "There should be a fridge in the closet, but it seems to be off."

"Do you give him enough money to survive only on take-aways or restaurant food, Hokage-sama?"

"Only if he eats only restaurant ramen, once a day, without eating anything else. We have found our resident poacher, or at least one of them."

"What if forest animals are all he eats?"

"Then he is the only one." They came up to the bedroom door and opened it. There was an unmade bed there, a wardrobe, a linen basket and a washing machine and a bedside table, nothing else.

Kakashi picked up a yukata from the linen basket. "This is all torn apart, and some bits look burned off, and what is with the shitty material?"

* * *

A long time later… 

The room was empty except for three adolescents, Hyuuga Hinata, Akuma-Gaki Akki and Uchiha Sasuke. The only noises were of Akki turning the pages of a book he seemed to be reading and writing notes in it. It had a blank cover and appeared to be handwritten, but noone asked him about it. Hinata looked like she had been crying, possibly as a result of being hassled by the Sasuke club, and Sasuke himself just brooded as he always did, 'Must kill Itachi, must restore clan, must get stronger…' while for Akki it was 'I hate this place, must leave, must get stronger, fucking Hyuugas…'

The door to the room slid aside, and a man in a ninja vest, with a mask and a hitai-ate over his eye stepped in and looked over them as they stared at him. His gaze lasted a little longer than it should when it fell on Akki.

"How do I say this? My first impression is… You are boring!"

* * *

"Ok… Let's begin with some introductions." There was silence from the three sitting adolescents. 'Oh, great,' thought Kakashi. "How about you tell me your name, likes and dislikes, hobbies, dreams, that sort of thing… I'll go first, shall I? My name is Hatake Kakashi," at this Akki's head lifted up and he stared at him, 'Sharingan no Kakashi, oh fuck…' "I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future…? Hmmmm… Well, I have lots of hobbies. Right, you, White-Eye." 

"A-Ano… m-my name is Hy-Hyuuga Hinata… I l-like cinnamon rolls a-and um… my dislikes…" she visibly paled, "Ano… I like to p-press f-flowers and my dream is to improve myself…" sha said, her mumbles fading into inaudibility. 'The famous Hyuuga confidence, huh?' thought Kakashi.

"Alright, you, heartthrob."

Sasuke glared at him. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are tons of things I dislike, but I don't really like anything. And… I don't want to use the word 'dream' but… I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and… to kill a certain man," he said, causing Hinata to jump at the last bit.

'I thought so…' "OK, now the Jinchuuriki." Confusion showed on Hinata and Sasuke's faces. 'Power of human sacrifice?'

Akki stared his empty stare at Kakashi for a moment. 'He is not only in the know, but is trying to bait me.' "My primary identifier is Akuma-Gaki Akki, Hatake-sensei. I have no name. My likes and dislikes are irrelevant, as are my hobbies. I have no dream."

'Worse than I thought, _if_ he is being truthful. Why does he dwell on the difference between an identifier and a name and claim he has none?' "OK! We will start our duties tomorrow. Our first duty is survival training."

"D-Demo… we did training at the academy…"

"I'm your opponent, but this isn't normal training."

"Th-Then what is it, Ka-Kakashi-sensei?"

'Let's see if I can get Naruto to show a reaction…' "Hehehe… When I tell you this, you guys are definitely going to flip. Hahaha… Of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be chosen as genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy."

'So, only three teams will pass,' thought Akki, 'unless they sorted us into teams now for no real reason, which is my case is almost certainly not the case, this entire team must pass, or we all fail.'

"This training is a super difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66!" Sasuke glared at him, while Hinata looked scared, not at him, but seemingly by some third party that might have an interest in this. Akki seemed completely unmoved, not moving a muscle. 'Damn!' "Er… right. Anyway, tomorrow you will be graded on the training field. Bring all your shinobi tools. Oh, and skip breakfast, you'll throw up."

'I don't throw up. I will make sure to have an extra large breakfast, I do not want to have to hunt after a tiring exam,' thought Akki.

"The details can be read on this printout. Don't be late tomorrow."

'And you will be? Meh, I can always have a second meal in the meantime.'

'I must pass this for tou-san! Otherwise…' thought Hinata.

'Just another hurdle,' thought Sasuke.

* * *

x

* * *

x

* * *

A/N: Well, I did not intend it to be so long, but for me the story really started with the survival examination, so I thought I might as well get all the introduction done in one go. Please, if you can, feel free to correct my Japanese, or facts about the Naruto universe. 

Jutsu list:

Kuchiyose no jutsu: Summoning technique

Kage bunshin no jutsu: Shadow Clone/Replication technique

Kawarimi no jutsu: Replacement technique

Gikochinai no jutsu: Stiffness technique

Hebi-hyouhi no jutsu: Snake skin technique

Sen'eijashu: Hidden shadow snake hands

Bunshin no jutsu: Clone/Replication technique

Jutsu shou: Technique neutralisation (Sarutobi used this in his fight against Orochimaru, against the third Edo Tensei)

Bunshin daibakuha no jutsu: Clone great explosion technique


	2. Just dig me out, baka!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, etc. etc. etc..

A/N: Thanks a lot for the reviews; I will answer some of them here:

Avatarofrage: **Eh? Dead Bone Puls, AND Byakugan? Hmm...seems a bit overpowered, although I suppose now he has the added handicap of trying to conceal his abilities. Also Akuma-Gaki Akki doesn't flow well, especially since -gaki is an honorific(albeit a derogative one), like -san, or -kun or whatever. It would sound better if people said either Akuma-Gaki, or just Akki, instead of both.  
Just trying to be helpful,**

Possessing a bloodline limit does not necessarily imply knowing how to use it. Without the years of training you get as part of the Hyuuga clan, and without the generations of technique development, the Byakugan is not hugely powerful as a combat tool. Naruto has not been trained by anyone else (yet), and does not have access to learning anything about Jyuuken as the Hyuuga clan keeps it secret. Of course, there is not much of a need for him to use classic Jyuuken in any case as, for most purposes, Shikotsumyaku is superior IMO (but of course, he hasn't been trained by anyone else in that EITHER, but apart from the Dance of the Seedling Fern, it seems self explanatory to me).

If you could find a different translation for "Demon-Kid" that you think would be better, please tell me. I am not bothered much, since Akki will be used most of the time.

ADD Kyuubi Naruto: **exaclately what bloodlines does naruto have.**

That would be telling. :P

ShrapnelMan: **i like it so for thats a definite. i'm most interested to see the past and why naruto acts the way he does. also i'm wondering if the bones or whatever is a bloodline (shikotsumyaku) or just something random. i havn't really seen a naruto act this way in a fanfic before so kudos.**

**anyway, i can't wait for the next update.**

**peace,**

**Shrap.**

Thanks. I will be revealing his past slowly (sorry) unless there is a change of plan. I am hoping to do it piece by piece as and when he remembers particular parts or others deduce them.

Yes, it is Shikotsumyaku.

For some time now it is likely that I will be writing alongside rereading the manga. It is possible that viewing pleasure would be improved by reading the manga parallel to this, since I am a lazy writer.

"Boo" speech

'Boo' thought

"B**oo**" Bijuu speech

'**Boo**' Bijuu thought

* * *

x

* * *

x

* * *

Naruto sat on his bed contemplating the day's events. 'So, what do I do now? What are the options? Do I get to Hinata before Kakashi, if he has not already? She almost certainly views me as a demon, making it difficult. To try to befriend her would be inconsistent with the image of me I have built, so possibly attracting more suspicion. It is difficult to build a relationship with someone and then just abandon it, which would be completely counterproductive; I cannot have anything hold me back. To stay here longer than absolutely necessary would be an insult to all their memories…' In his mind an image flashed of 3 men hanging by their necks from a high beam, kicking about after the stools had been removed from under their feet…

He shook his head to rid himself of the image, and stared out of his window. 'I wonder how many of the villages know anything about what happens outside the village walls in the name of the Daimyo, the one we all serve, preserving a system of government that is an anachronism to the rest of the world. Kakashi almost certainly knows, although since he was a jounin before reaching adulthood, he would never, likely, have been sent on a "peacekeeping" mission…

'Now, what other options are there? Could I carry on as I have done before? It would become painfully obvious that I am hiding something, and they would be able to see everything. Or… for the moment, I could train and use only my non-bloodline stuff, unless circumstances dictate otherwise. It would then seem more like I was hiding stuff for advantage during the Chuunin Exams etc.. I should probably limit even that… I can only do this temporarily, though, if I am not to lose some of my capabilities through under-use.'

His right hand wandered up to his neck and he fingered his hitai-ate. 'I wonder what the reaction would be if I walked the streets wearing this in front of lots of people… Regardless, I am in need of Ichiraku ramen.'

* * *

x

* * *

Hyuuga Hinata walked past the guards at the entrance to the Hyuuga compound, knowing that she had to report to her father as soon as she got home. Walking through the corridors of the Hyuuga estate, she eventually reached a plain wooden sliding door. She brought her right hand up, ready to knock, before she started trembling uncontrollably. 'What will he say, what will he say? He will tell me not to lose to the Uchiha, for the sake of the prestige of our clan, as the strongest remaining in Konoha… I can deal with that… But what will he say about the monster on my team, how will I be able to tell him? What will he do…?'

"Come _in_ Hinata," Hiashi's voice could be heard through the door. She opened it and stepped in. Her father was kneeling on a mat before a low table, on the other side of which was her mat, the table seemingly being a physical barrier between them. She knelt down, and he said, "So… Hinata, who is your sensei?"

"Hatak-ke Ka-Kakashi, t-tou-san."

"Hatake Kakashi? Why have they put you onto a combat team, and with _Kakashi_, unless you have significantly improved of late…?" 'Kakashi is not just a regular jounin, he is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, general combat specialists still resident in Konohagakure no Sato, and the top technique specialist. Why would Hinata be placed on his team? It makes no sense whatsoever.'

"I-I don't kn-know, t-t-tou-san."

"Who else is on your team?"

"Ano… Uchiha Sasuke," 'That does make sense, but says nothing about why they would place them on the same team. He is the top rookie, so this is definitely a combat team.' "and… the Kyuubi-kid, our very own monster," she said, pre-emptively flinching at what she expected to be a bad answer.

"Akuma-Gaki Akki, ka?" 'That would explain it if we in the council wanted to watch him, but we made no such decision, but there is still something missing…' "Why do you call him a monster, Hinata?"

Hinata stared at him in disbelief. 'He is taking this calmly and, wait, why is he a monster?!' "A-Ano… why d-do I c-call him a m-monster? I do not understand, tou-san. Everyone say that he is the K-K-Kyuubi and—"

"Enough. I thought I had taught you to rely only on facts, as far as possible? There is no proof, or indication, that, just because a bijuu is contained inside someone, that someone becomes a demon. There have been many Jinchuuriki in the past and, while some of them did some monstrous things, there is no evidence whatsoever that they were human incarnations of demons. I will never hear you utter such absurdities in this house, is that understood?"

"H-Hai, tou-san."

"I am curious, however, how does Akki act?"

"He is silent, tou-san."

"Silent?"

"Hai."

"Nothing else?"

"As far as I can see, tou-san."

* * *

x

* * *

October 17th:

Naruto woke up and sat up, performing the ritual-like seals for the Gikochinai. He stood up, increasing the strength of the jutsu, feeling the creaking of his muscles. 'From now, I make it up as I go along and hope, I guess.' He walked over to his wardrobe and opened it, seeing in front of him ten scruffy black yukata, all patched up the night before. 'Hehe… at least one advantage of my changed training system, I won't have to patch them up so often.' He walked towards his door, then walked back to pick up his pack, then left.

He walked leisurely to the designated training ground, feeling his leg muscles straining against their restraint made of chakra. As he arrived at the ground, beads of sweat were over his face. Luckily, he was the first there, being ten minutes early. Reducing the strength of the gikochinai, he sat down on the crossroads, and waited for the others to arrive, and to see whether his sensei would be late again.

During the next five minute, his team-mates arrived, both staring at him a little coldly before sitting a little further off, from him and each other. Sasuke was sitting on a log, looking everything like the cool avenger that attracted so many of the girls to him. Hinata, on the other hand, looked absolutely terrified, her eyes moving about constantly, and sometimes even going in his direction. 'She is obviously not yet ready to be a ninja, but I will not let us fail just to make things better for her, besides, it would be against the duty I now have to my team, which I will have to take absolutely seriously from now on.'

A half an hour later, their sensei had still not yet arrived. 'Time for a meal,' thought Akki. He took off his pack and rummaged around, taking out a pair of tongs and a small grate with legs. He placed the grate on an area of bare earth on the road, attracting stares from his team-mates. Picking up the tongs, he pushed chakra into a seal on them three times, making three pork steaks poof into existence on the grate. 'Boar steaks,' he corrected himself. Sitting in front of the grate he put his fingers into the tiger seal, and blew a small amount of flame at the steaks once every few seconds, noting happily that he was upwind of his team-mates, who, if they had followed their sensei's instructions, would be very hungry right now. 'This could be interesting. Are they too afraid of throwing up to eat? I doubt it, now. Will they want to get a demon's food though? Haha…'

Some moments later, he was chewing on a steak that he held with chopsticks, the other two still sizzling on the grate ready to be eaten. Still they did not come. After finishing the first one, he picked up and chewed a second one. While chewing, he noticed a shadow come across the grate, and he looked up to see what was blocking the sunlight. Hinata stepped back a bit as his gaze hit her, but then stayed still, clutching her stomach. "A-Ano… Akki-san… May I have a steak?"

Keeping facing her, he placed his hand into his pack, finding his spare pair of chopsticks and took them out and handed them to her, and she took them. "Arigatou, Akki-san. Itadakimasu…" She sat down next to him; to him uncomfortably close, used to having at least a four seat distance between himself and anyone else, but he did not let it show on his face. While she ate, he got another three steaks from the tongs and cooked them the same way. Just as he was about to pick one up and chew it, she said, "N-Nee, Akki-san, why did you say that you have no name yesterday?"

He paused, the steak half-way to his mouth. "A human name implies recognition by many members of human society that you too are a human. I have none, Hyuuga-sama." 'Or at least not here.' He then chewed his steak.

"A-Ano… please call me Hinata, Akki-san."

"Hai, Hinata-sama."

"Ohayou!"

Hinata fell backwards while Akki turned his head to see that Kakashi had stuck his head between them and had been looking over their shoulders. 'I didn't even sense his presence. I wonder how long he was there.'

"You're late!" Sasuke shouted. 'Not that long after all,' thought Akki.

"Summimasen, there was this little girl and she wanted to race me to the cinema and back and so…"

"Liar!" shouted Sasuke. Hinata giggled a little while Akki remained silent. Kakashi stood up and walked towards three stumps, placing an alarm clock on the centre one.

"OK, it's set for noon." He turned to them, Hinata and Sasuke looking at the clock, while Akki stared straight at him. There was a jingling noise as he dug into his pocket, taking out two bells. "Here are two bells. Your task is to take these from me before noon. Those who cannot get a bell by noon get no lunch; I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps but I'll eat right in front of you."

'So this is why he told us not to eat…' thought Sasuke while Hinata was, uncommonly for her, looking a little smug. Kakashi's gaze lingered on Akki a bit. 'He was cooking while I was away. He paid no attention when I said not to eat. He must have been confident that he had a strong stomach.'

"You only need to get one bell. There are only two, so one of you will definitely be tied to a stump and… The person who doesn't take a bell fails, so at least one of you will be sent to the academy."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes a Kakashi, while Hinata's widened. Akki allowed surprise to show on his face for a moment before regaining control. 'Damn that man, what is he thinking? By doing this he ensures that he either gets an incomplete team or that the teams are reshuffled, both of which seem to me to be unlikely. Is he looking for only one to pass, so he would then have an apprentice instead of a team?'

"You can even use your shurikens. You won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill."

Akki could feel his heart racing. 'What is he on about? He is a jounin. What is the point of this? Does he just want to test our maximum strength? Our willingness to use force? Both? How is that connected to the bells?'

"Are you ready now? Start!"

They all scattered into different places around the clearing. 'Wait… We all automatically separated from each other. Is this what he is aiming for? Us all to work separately?' Realisation then dawned. 'So, he is lying again. He does want to test our strength, but the bells are a ruse allowing him to test our strengths as individuals rather than as a team. He would need to know that, obviously. Then he can gauge how strong we are at less risk to himself and then decide whether to train us based on that. However, if that is the case, he could have just asked us to attack him separately, so, does that mean that his criteria for passing or failing the team is based on something other than individual strength? Team strength maybe?'

Looking through the leaves at Kakashi, Akki checked his equipment. The sensei was a liar, so why not a thief. Everything seemed to be in the right place though.

"The basics of a ninja are to hide yourself well," said the masked man, who then looked around himself. Finding that there was no one around him that he could see, he pulled out a little orange book and started to read it. 'Surely not even a jounin can be so confident that he can read a book even when attacked by three people? He does not expect us to team up on him at all. Does he design for us not to do that? He would beat us individually anyway, and likely would too if we were teaming up, so there is no contest, no competition, no test. However, he is designing that we do not team up at all, and that is the only thing we can do in spite of him. Wait… "I'm your opponent, but this isn't normal training." That is what he said. He said he would be our opponent. Does that mean we win, just by teaming up? Is that the point of the test?'

During this time Kakashi had gone a few pages through his book and had turned his back to Sasuke's position.

* * *

Sasuke was watching Kakashi read his book. He then saw an opening, or so he thought, when Kakashi turned his back to him, giggling. His hands went to his shuriken holster, taking out four for each hand. He waited until Kakashi giggle again, hoping to use the sound to mask the sound of the shuriken in flight. Kakashi giggled just then, and eight shuriken were then sailing towards him. Just as they were about to hit their target, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of grey smoke. Not a tenth of a second later, Sasuke felt a small tugging sensation in his whole body, the one that is normally felt during kawarimi no jutsu when you cast it. 'Oh shit!' he thought, curling himself up to protect his vitals just before he was struck by his own shuriken: three on his arms, two on his right leg and three on his left leg.

He uncurled himself, pulling shuriken out of his body, and seeing Kakashi drop from the tree that he, Sasuke, had been in just a couple of seconds earlier. "Your instincts are good, Sasuke-kun, very good, but you will have to do better than that."

Sasuke grimaced as he stood up, blood flowing from fresh wounds. Panting, he watched as Kakashi turned yet another page of his book, and threw a couple of kunai at him, which the jounin elegantly sidestepped. As this happened, however, Sasuke was quickly making seals. Kakashi saw this and thought, 'Goukakyuu no jutsu? A genin shouldn't have enough chakra!' A stream of flame left Sasuke's lips, widening once it got near Kakashi's position to a great ball of fire two metres wide.

When he finished his technique, Sasuke's eyes widened. 'He's gone! Where is he? Left, right? Behind, above?' he thought, turning his head in those directions. "Below you!" he heard as he felt a hand around his ankle. A second later his head was the only body part of his above the ground as Kakashi squatted before him, before leaving. He glared at the world, before he heard someone drop lightly behind him.

"Uchiha-sama—"

"My name is Sasuke."

"Sasuke-sama, I have something to tell you that you might not like."

"Tch. What is it, Akki?"

"I suspect that the point of the test is unconnected to the bells."

"Nani?"

"I think that he had two bells here for one purpose only: He is trying to have us working against each other rather than cooperatively."

"So?"

'Dense.' "He said yesterday that this would be a test with him as the opponent. Being a test implies that there is a chance of success and, with all due respect, you do not stand a chance."

"How dare a de—" Akki covered his mouth before he could finish.

"Sumimmasen, Sasuke-sama, but you must listen to me. Our only chance of success is if we show ourselves to be working together as a team. Besides, if I am wrong, you can still attempt to take a bell for yourself." Sasuke made some muffled noises. Akki took his hand off his mouth and said, "Sumimmasen, Sasuke-sama."

"Just dig me out, baka!"

'Twat.'

* * *

Kakashi looked on from afar as they started digging Sasuke out. 'Has he worked out the purpose behind the test? How would he have got it so quickly? No matter, if the team passes I will have to stop this master servant relationship before it starts.'

He turned on the branch he was on and dropped in front of a hiding Hinata. "So… you prefer watching to fighting do you?" She jumped up and hastily brought her hands up to a basic Jyuuken defence. "Don't you want to pass, Hinata?" She stepped back a little, her eyes moving to be looking to her bottom right 'She is imagining future events?' and she gulped. 'What is she afraid of, me?' "What is it exactly that you are afraid of, Hinata? Not passing? Then come at me!"

She stepped back again. "I-I…" she looked at the ground, and then back Kakashi and seemed to freeze. 'What is wrong with this girl? The files did not mention this. What is going on?'

He turned his eyes up and to his left and saw Sasuke and Akki standing on a branch looking down on them. "Akki, I will handle Hinata. You know what to do." Akki nodded in response and jumped down towards Kakashi, who turned towards him and back stepped to avoid him. From the corner of his eye he saw Sasuke pick up Hinata and leave.

As Naruto landed his left foot on the ground he propelled himself forward, a kunai in each hand, held with the blades on the other side of his hands to his thumbs. His arms were down his sides until the elbow, and then coming up to being in front of his chest. Kakashi held a kunai in his non-book hand, waiting for Akki to get close to him. Just as Akki was getting into range, his hands moved position by about a centimetre each and formed the seal for the kage bunshin, and Kakashi was then surrounded by ten Akki's running in towards him. 'He knows kage bunshin?!' He dodged the first kunai strike and quickly despatched that attacking clone. Dodging further strikes he quickly placed his book back into his kunai pouch lest it get damaged, picking up another kunai and using it to parry another strike and then kill the clone.

In a matter of seconds he then killed every other clone and sent a kunai slicing towards Akki's throat. Akki's eye's widened as he started to lean backwards, but he realised it would be too slow. He decreased the strength of gikochinai no jutsu, so allowing him to jump out of the way and into a tree in time to escape the attack.

'Where did he get his sudden speed increase? I should have killed him right there.'

* * *

"Put me down, please, Sasuke-san."

Sasuke placed her down on a tree branch and looked at her.

"Arigatou… sumimmasen…"

"Hai, hai. Akki is fighting Kakashi-sensei as we speak. We are going to help him to take the bells."

"We are?"

"Yes."

"But there are only two…"

"There is no time to explain. Just follow me," he said, looking at his watch and seeing that it was just a couple of minutes until the alarm went off, if his watch and the clock had the same time. "Come on! We must hurry! I will tell you more as we move."

* * *

Akki blocked another of Kakashi's kunai strikes before being kicked towards the river, picking himself up again while on its bank. Kakashi rushed towards him, noticing that on either sides of him Hinata and Sasuke were rushing towards his position. A metre away from Akki he brought his right leg around and kicked towards the boy's head that was only to his waist height. The boy brought his arms up to protect his face and jumped up a little to lessen the damage the kick would cause his arms, at the expense of being kicked flying into the lake.

Before he could see what happened to Akki he turned around to deal with the fact he was being attacked by Sasuke and Hinata, Byakugan blazing. He caught a punch of Sasuke's and then a kick, but then felt a piercing pain in his side from a Jyuuken strike from Hinata, causing him to momentarily let go of Sasuke who, with Hinata, jumped away and into the forest and ran off. Before he could recover his sense of events, he heard a whistling sound behind and looked behind him to see Akki finish some seals while standing on the water. He quickly ducked his head and covered his eyes as a great gust of wind picked up water from the river and smashed it into him, gouging out some of the earth and sending him tumbling through mud.

Once he came to rest in a large puddle he got up into a kneeling position, facing away from the river, and saw the bells still in the air, with Sasuke jumping to reach them. 'It is futile gaki, your time has run out.' As he thought that, there was a great clattering of bells sound signalling that noon had arrived, startling Sasuke who then missed the target, allowing the bells to fall into the mud.

Kakashi stood up and looked behind him to see Akki walking towards him across the water in what now was, if only temporarily, a part of the river, a gouge from the land. 'Fuuton Daitoppa, ka? I must talk to him about the fact he did not announce it. Still, how he used it was impressive, as well as the fact that he knows it and knows how to walk on water.' "You failed to get the bells within the time, despite using teamwork to achieve your goal," he said, glaring at them once they had assembled in front of him, standing in, or in Akki's case _on_, the mud. His eye then turned into an upside down u-shape as he smiled beneath his mask, "You all pass, congratulations and welcome to team 7!

"Remember this though, despite the fact you passed this: Those who disobey the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are still lower."

'Let's see… how can I annoy him as much as possible?' thought Akki, wanting to let off a bit of steam from being pummelled. 'Hehe…' "Is that an order, Hatake-sensei?"

Kakashi's visible eye twitched as he looked at his seemingly emotionless subordinate. "Hai, and you will address me as Kakashi-sensei from now on, there is no need for formality."

"Hai."

"Oh, an Akki, you must remember to announce your attacks in future, when in that situation."

"Why? No one gives an explanation for announcing, so I don't, since it tells the enemy what you are doing."

Kakashi sighed. "Usually there is no point, true, if you are going solo. However, when you are in a team your team is top priority, so you must announce your attacks so they know what you are doing, and so can dodge in time and in the right way. What would have happened earlier if your team-mates had not known you were going to case Fuuton: Daitoppa and you had not told them at the time? They could die, especially when you use more dangerous techniques."

"Hai. Moushiwake arimasen, Kakashi-sensei." 'At last, a teacher who gives explanations!'

"Anyway, we will be training here every day before we go to get our missions. We are to meet at the bridge over the river to the north. Oh, and, there will be a party for all new and old Konoha genin starting at 18:00. Will any of you be going? Sasuke?"

"No." 'All those annoying girls will be there.'

"Hinata?"

"No." 'The other girls will rip me apart!'

"Akki-kun?"

"No." 'What would be the point of me ruining everyone else's fun to no enjoyment of myself?'

"Right." 'What a sociable team I have…' "Well, off you go, except you Hinata, I need to have a word with you."

* * *

x

* * *

Hinata walked out of the training field, her head filled with confusion and doubt. She had, in the space of 24 hours, been first told that containing a demon does not make you one, not knowing before that Akki was containing one (just having been told by her peers that he was a demon), and now being asked to _spy_ on him, effectively, apparently to make sure that the seal stayed intact, and had been told that was the primary reason she was on the team. She was supposed to spy—observe him daily, she was told, using her Byakugan, and inform Kakashi of anything at all suspicious. She had been told to concentrate on when he was training since that, supposedly, would be when there was greatest risk. The strangest thing of all, though, was that she had been asked to observe him covertly, as if it would somehow be suspicious if his seal weakened.

It was too late now, of course, to find him if he was outside of his house, but she had been asked to start immediately, so she was jumping from roof to roof towards the address she had been told was his. She arrived only to see that the place was empty, though, and left, a little dejected, for home.

* * *

x

* * *

"… and S-rank are missions that are the hardest or most important to fulfil, essential to the village, and are normally carried out by some of the village's most skilled ninja," said the Hokage. "You will be paid a salary plus a commission for every mission, with pay increasing based on the mission difficulty. As rookie genin, you will almost exclusively be getting D-rank missions. Now, for your first mission… Yamamoto Aiko needs her garden weeded in time for a dinner party in the evening."

Akki formed a kage bunshin seal in full view of the room, causing people to look at him oddly until another team 7 appeared to his right, its Kakashi taking the scroll from the old man's outstretched hand before they ran off.

Kakashi looked at with his one visible eye. "Why did you do that, Akki-kun?"

"To increase our training time, Kakashi-sensei. Or, if you prefer, I could have my clones take more missions, then we would have more money?"

The old man in front of them chuckled loudly before saying, "I am afraid one of your students, at least, will be cutting into your reading time, Kakashi, hmmm?"

"Hai, hai. Well guys, since Akki-kun seems to desire it, you will perform two laps of Konoha before meeting me back on the bridge."

* * *

x

* * *

March 20th:

Kakashi sat on a tree branch in the training ground while Akki and Sasuke sparred against each other using the standard academy taijutsu style. Hinata was practising her Jyuuken by striking a log in the grounds. He had arranged the day before with the Hokage that his team would soon be given a C-rank mission, as even Akki seemed to be tiring of the D-ranks, and Sasuke especially so, since Kakashi had not allowed Akki's clones to take every mission. The extra money coming in _had_, however, allowed him to buy a first edition of Icha Icha Paradise, Vol. 3.

He glanced at his watch to see that it was somewhat past noon, and then dropped down to the ground, gaining the attention of his team immediately. "Right, good work guys. You are free again until tomorrow." They went their separate ways, with Kakashi walking down the main street of the village, musing over the last five months. 'Hinata is progressing slowly, too slowly, and her confidence is as low as ever. The mission might improve it somewhat, or absolutely destroy it, but it is a risk I feel I must take. She we will never survive as a ninja at this rate.'

His thoughts turned to another student, 'She tells me Akki's seal is unchanging, and she has not mentioned anything besides that, though her attitude has morphed from despising to pitying him, if only a little. As far as I can see, his abilities are just a little worse than Sasuke's, with the exception of being able to walk on water already. She would surely have told me if there was anything amiss, and the times when I accompany her everything is as it should be: he is stronger than he apparently was in academy, which is not uncommon for those who think ahead. It has also had the benefit of improving Sasuke's work ethic as he strives to keep ahead of him.'

He turned into a restaurant building, the Korean Barbeque place, and noticed Sarutobi Asuma's team there. 'I need a good chat, my team does not suffice.' "Yo, Asuma."

"Kakashi! How is your team?"

Sitting down next to Ino, Kakashi said, "Fine. Sasuke in particular is doing well—"

"You are Sasuke-kun's sensei?! Has he been asking for me?"

"No. Who are you?" Ino's face reddened.

"Why you—"

"You are troublesome Ino…"

"munch"

"So how is _your_ team doing, Asuma?"

"Well… I have a glutton, a loudmouth and a boy with no ambition, so progress is slow." The table was silenced.

"I see. Well, do you know, is Kurenai well…?"

* * *

x

* * *

Naruto pulled the covers over himself on the bed and then drank a large cup full of water, placing the container on the bedside table. He started to take deep breaths, preparing to have his mind bombarded by the memories of his clones. Memories of boring missions, memories of training, memories of thoughts and memories of memories, from a thousand clones, every day. It had been his scheme to avoid being spied on by his team: he would have clones do missions, many missions in one day, and they would produce more clones that would go off to train in the forest, in caves and in rivers. He had started doing this after he started to get annoyed by getting mission memories and getting some habits from missions he had only done as a clone. The first time he had really done a lawn mowing mission, he found he already knew how to operate the mower. Using the clones for training immediately followed. He just hoped it would last as long as possible.

He looked at his digital alarm clock; it was at 21:23:47. 'Now.' He felt a huge pain in his head as the connections between the neurons in his brain were forcibly made by the returning chakra. Unfortunately this had a very bad signal to noise ratio, very very little of the information was of any use, and most of it which was was made redundant by having hundreds of copies of it, but every once in a while there was something with only once copy.

_He saw his team and his body from his point of view being created in the Hokage's office in front of the real him, and saw from the other three points of view as well. They had gone down to someone's garden yet again, passing through alleys where more clones were created and henged, and scattered, going under the ground sometimes, going to different training places. He saw bones coming out of his skin, and sparring with another person fighting with katars. He saw chakra forming metal in his hands to form kunai and katars and more complex shapes, the latter usually misshapen, when nature manipulation was applied. Flying sand, warping trees, cut bark, exploding clones, blood flying, chakra strings extending from each tenketsu to a distance a metre from his body, flying shuriken, more explosions, fireballs, red eyes, frozen clones, mist and lightning._

_He saw also the memories of every clone. He saw a six-year-old self thrown out onto the street in a city street hundreds of times, he saw three men hanging hundreds of times, saw himself wake up in his flat to see two dead men on the floor, again hundreds of times. He saw three boys whose ages were obviously in their single figures, he saw one them give him a bottle cap, he saw them and him sleep under a bridge, he saw their bodies in the mud and he saw his arm with a bone spike in his palm stab a bloody but still living body in the neck and saw himself run yet again, with a great pain in his watering eyes. He saw himself fall in the mud and walk through the forest, he saw himself picked up by a turtle masked ANBU and taken away. He saw himself reading in the library as well, and himself practising throwing shuriken in the academy grounds._

At 21:23:49 he lost consciousness.

* * *

x

* * *

March 21st:

The Daimyo's wife stood hugging her cat, Tora, to death after she, the cat, has escaped yet again. Akki, confident enough that no one could see his face as his team assembled, permitted himself to glare at her with contempt and loathing.

The team stood behind Kakashi in the Hokage's office, Kakashi with a little smirk beneath his mask. The Hokage said, "Well, team 7, Kakashi tells me that you have been making good progress, and so I have made the decision to give you a simple C-rank escort mission." Akki and Sasuke looked up at this, with the latter visibly relaxing, and Hinata just smiled a worried smile, hoping that she would not hold back the team. "Come in please, Tazuna-san." In stepped an old man clinging onto a bottle and drinking out of it.

"What's this? They're all a bunch of super brats, especially the short one. Is he really a ninja?!"

Akki's face twitched, a rare occurrence that Kakashi only observed in situations where you would expect him to be furious. Akki thought, 'Wizened bastard, I will show him.' He turned to the old man and said, "If I took that rope around your head and garrotted you with it, would that convince you that I am a ninja?"

"Haha… You're threatening me gaki? Classic!"

The entire room then felt the sensation that a strange chakra was being moulded, and it seemed to be coming from Akki. Tazuna looked into his eyes to see them change from icy blue to blood red and slit. He stepped back and started to move backwards towards the door, unnerved by all this. Sasuke stared at Akki, particularly at his eyes, as did Hinata, whose hand came to her mouth. Kakashi walked up behind him and said, "Calm down Akki. We are supposed to protect him, not kill him." The sensation of strange chakra stopped and the boy's eyes returned to their original appearance.

"Ano… anyway. I am the expert bridge builder Tazuna. I am paying for you to protect me from bandits and so on until I get back to Wave country and complete my bridge."

"Now go and prepare for a six week trip and meet at the village gate," said Kakashi.

* * *

Akki arrived at the village gate where the others were waiting. Unlike his normal dress, he was wearing a pair of loose trousers, a t-shirt and a jacket, as he had read that the Wave country had a cooler climate than at Konoha. In addition to his shuriken holster, he wore two sheaths, one of each thigh, with a katar handle coming out of each of them. He used these as they were used similarly to how he used bone spikes from his palms. In addition, of course, he wore his pack. His clothes were again in black because that was the cloth he had, having learnt how to cut his own clothes.

Sasuke and Hinata stared quizzically at the odd weapons he was wearing. Kakashi merely said, "Interesting choice, Akki-kun."

"Hai."

"Eh? Demon? Why are you calling him that?" asked Tazuna, still a little nervy about the boy.

Akki turned towards him and said, "That is my identifier, Akuma-Gaki Akki. A nine-tailed fox demon attacked this village on October 10th, my birthday, 13 years ago. I am 12 years old. I am the demon in its sealed state, or so I think, since I have found no record of having any parents. I therefore concluded that my body was created during the sealing process, rather than me being an existing newborn. Have confidence, you are being protected by a demon, right?"

Kakashi heard this with some dismay, and hastened to correct him. "Akki, you are incorrect. You were born some hours before the sealing process. I know, since I was there."

"Nani?"

"I said that I was there, Akki-kun."

"Does that mean that you know who my parents are?"

Kakashi looked at the boy. He could not sense any great interest, it had been asked in a very matter of fact way. "No, I am afraid not."

"I see."

Tazuna looked intently at the boy. Even in the Wave they had heard about the Kyuubi attack, but it was not well known how it was stopped. He noticed how the boy was always apart from his team-mates and started to feel a mite sympathetic through his drunken haze.

Kakashi walked to the front of the group. "Right, let's go."

* * *

Later on, they were walking down a road through the forest. Kakashi were talking quietly, while Sasuke and Hinata made talk of their own. Akki walked at the back of the group, listening in. They went past a lone puddle at the left side of the road that Kakashi glanced at. Akki looked at it. It hadn't rained for days and had been sunny, and the ground all around the puddle was very dry. Someone was using a Suiton jutsu to hide themselves, badly. He looked at Kakashi in wonderment. 'He has certainly noticed it, yet he does nothing?' He decided to follow Kakashi's lead, for now.

A moment after he had passed the puddle, he felt a presence behind him. Before he could react, a figure was flying above him with some kind of thick razor wire which surrounded Kakashi and ripped him to shreds. 'Oh, shit,' he thought as he saw two men with a razor chain between them run towards him with the obvious intent of doing to him what they had done with Kakashi. As they ran towards him he weakened his gikochinai to non-existence just slowly enough not to give an easily noticeable chakra release. As they neared him, he could see Sasuke jumping towards him. 'You had better kill rather than capture or I will do it.'

Just as the first man got into his range, Akki, within a blink of an eye, pulled out his katars and let them get positioned in his hand, and then brought his hands and katars up to his chest and stabbed the man 21 times in quick succession is his abdomen, neck and through his ribs to his heart, killing him and covering Akki's front side with blood as he leapt up to dodge the chain.

Sasuke threw a shuriken at the haywire chain, attaching it to a tree as well as to a dead body. The living assailant separated himself from his bond and charge at Akki again to avenge his partner, Akki readying his bloody katars again. However, Sasuke came for him again and kicked the man in the face before attempting to stab him in the neck with a kunai. The man brought up his clawed gauntlet to block the strike and then used it to strike towards Sasuke's face. Sasuke leant back while kneeing the man in the stomach, causing him to double over, before Sasuke knocked him out and let him fall to the ground.

Akki ran towards their position and, when he was nearly there, started to thrust his right katar towards the man's neck, only to be stopped be a gloved hand that hurled him around and onto the ground. Akki picked himself up and glared at Kakashi, standing over the unconscious body, before finally wiping his katars on some still clean patches of his clothing before sheathing them.

Kakashi took in his appearance for a few moments before saying, "There is a stream some distance behind me. Go and get yourself cleaned up so tat you do not unnecessarily unnerve anyone we come across, Akki-kun. We will be waiting for you."

Akki nodded and left. As he did so, Hinata went over what had happened again. She had been appalled by how the ninja's entire torso had seemed to explode with blood for those few seconds, and impressed by how many strikes Akki had managed to put in during that time. Sure, she had seen him to it in training, but she had never seen it used in reality. Sasuke was also amazing, and she said as much, "That was very impressive, Sasuke-kun." He grunted in response. She looked at the corpse and began to feel ill. She ran to the edge of the road where Tazuna was, and vomited as he was doing.

Sighing, Kakashi picked up the unconscious ninja and tied him to a tree. When Akki returned, clean, he told him to bury the corpse, and asked him why he had tried to kill the other. The boy answered, "He tried to kill me. Fair is fair."

"Don't you think that might be a little childish, Akki-kun?"

"Possibly, but it does not bother me, and is not my problem, Kakashi-sensei."

"Taku," Kakashi said as he knelt down to wake the prisoner for questioning.

* * *

"How did you read our movements?" asked the survivor.

"On a sunny day like this when it hasn't rained in days, there's not going to be a puddle" said Kakashi.

"If you knew that, why did you let the brats fight?" asked Tazuna.

"If I had wanted to I could have killed him and his partner instantly but there was something I needed to find out: who they were after."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Meaning, were they after you or one of us? We haven't heard that there are shinobi after you. Our mission was to simply protect you from thieves or gangs. This has now become at least a B-rank mission. This was supposed to be simple protection until you completed the bridge. If it was known that ninja were after you, this mission would have been set as the more expensive B-rank. I'm sure you had a reason, but it caused problem when you lie about the mission. We are now operating outside of our duties."

"Ano… Kakashi-sensei, will we be ok-kay, do you think, if we continue?"

"Hmm… Sasuke and Akki can probably handle it, based on their performances today. Can you handle it, Hinata?"

Hinata imagined her father's face if she returned from her first C-rank with failure. "Hai."

"Hmmm…"

"Sensei, I have to talk to you," said Tazuna. "It's about this mission. You're right, this job is most likely outside your duties. It turns out that a super dangerous man is after my life."

"Super dangerous man? Who?"

"You've probably at least heard his name before. The wealthy shipping magnate, a man called Gatou."

"Huh?!! Gatou, from that Gatou Company? He's said to be one of the world's few extremely wealthy people."

"Yes. Officially he runs a large shipping company, but secretly he sells drugs and other illegal items, using ninja and gang members to take over businesses and countries. He is a very nasty man. It was about a year ago when he set his eyes on the Wave country. Through money and violence, he quickly took control of the country's shipping industry. Gatou now has a monopoly on all business traffic in the country. The only thing he has to fear now is the completion of the bridge."

Akki stiffened when he heard this, as it was fundamentally the same as what he had seen six years ago. He glared at the surviving enemy.

Hinata said, "You are very brave, Tazuna-san, to go against such a man."

Sasuke said, "So, those ninja were hired by Gatou?"

Kakashi said, "But what I don't understand is… If you knew ninja could be after you, why did you hide that fact when you hired us?"

"The wave country is poor, even the feudal lord has no money. Of course, we don't have much money either, not enough for an expensive B-rank mission. Well, if you quit the mission now, I will definitely get killed."

"But—"

"Don't worry about it! If I die my cute grandson will just cry for a few days!! Oh, yeah, and my daughter will live a sad life hating Leaf Village ninja forever, but it won't be your fault. Not at all!"

"Well, I—"

"Whatever," said Akki as he started to carry on down the road, "Let's just go and kill them all, Gatou and his ninja."

"This is a protection mission, not an assassination mission, Akki!"

"Gatou is the source of Tazuna-sama's troubles and danger, so it would still be legal, Kakashi-sensei."

"Taku." Kakashi turned to Tazuna, "We will protect you at least until you get back to your country."

'I win, though that monster boy is starting to frighten me. Wait, Tazuna-_sama_?!'

* * *

As they passed through the mist on the little boat, Kakashi looked at Akki. The boy's demeanour had subtly changed since they had left Konoha. He seemed more relaxed, somehow, and happier, as well as oddly eager to kill Gatou, a man he had never met. 'Has his heart been touched in sympathy, or is this to do with his missing period?'

"We should see the bridge soon," said the helmsman. "The Wave country is at the base of the bridge."

Kakashi looked through the mist. After a while, the outline of a bridge came into view, and one of impressive size. 'A wonder of a project for such a poor country, even if half-finished.'

"We'll be there soon," said the helmsman as the base of the bridge came into view. "Tazuna, it looks like we've avoided detection so far but, just in case, we'll take the route that has vegetation. It will make it harder to spot us."

"Arigatou."

They passed under one of a multitude of arches of another smaller bridge connecting two islands within Wave country. On the other side was a channel of sea between two large flat islands with mangrove trees in it, and on the coast were pontoons and platforms with ramshackle looking buildings. As they got off onto a platform that looked like it wouldn't survive a light breeze, the helmsman said to Tazuna, "This is it for me, good bye and good luck."

"Hai, arigatou," he turned to Kakashi, "OK! Get me home safely."

"Hai, hai." 'If we get attacked again it will surely not be chuunin, but jounin level,' he thought. 'Sigh. Hinata will be sensible and protect Tazuna as best she can. Sasuke will most likely, well, he'll most likely be fine. Akki however… His face since my talk with Tazuna has been the same as when he tried to kill the other ninja, and it worries me. Thankfully, however, I think he can be trusted to follow my order to the letter, though that is not necessarily for the best, since sometimes he disregards them in favour of what he says are my "higher orders".'

They were walking along a dirt road close to the sea. Kakashi thought he sensed movement to his left, but when he looked there was nothing there. Then he heard a footstep on a branch. "Everyone, get down!" he shouted as hew threw himself to the floor, imitated by his charge and subordinates, as a sword longer than a man flew spinning overhead. The sword embedded itself halfway through a tree before stopping, with a masked man dropping down to stand on its handle.

Kakashi picked himself up and said, "Well, well, if it isn't the Hidden Mist's Missing-Nin Momochi Zabuza-kun. Everybody get back, this one's on a whole other level. Against him, it will be a little bit tough, unless I do this." As he said that, he clutched the part of his hitai-ate that was over his left eye. Sasuke and Akki looked intently at it while Hinata stepped in front of Tazuna.

"You appear to be Sharingan no Kakashi," said Zabuza. "Sorry, but the old man is mine."

"Surround and protect Tazuna-san, use the swastika formation. Do not enter the fight, that's the teamwork here. Zabuza first," he said, revealing his sharingan, "fight me."

"Ah, I already get to see the famous sharingan. I am honoured." There was silence for a few seconds. "Now, I have to get that old man." At this, the three genin stood around Tazuna, Hinata at the front, Sasuke on the left and Akki on the right. "But Kakashi! It seems I have to beat you first." Zabuza kicked off from the tree, dragging his huge lump of sharpened metal with him, and landed on the sea. The water started to swirl around him.

'He's releasing a high amount of chakra,' thought Kakashi.

"Ninpou: Kirigakure no jutsu," said Zabuza. The area where he had been filled with a thick fog, removing him from view.

"He'll come after me first. Momochi Zabuza, as a member of the Hidden Mist, he was known as an expert in silent killing. You don't even notice until you are already dead. It's not like I can use the sharingan perfectly. You guys be careful."

* * *

x

* * *

x

* * *

A/N: "Only" 8-9 thousand words this time. This is because I was getting a little jaded towards the end and need a break without the guilt of making people wait too long, and because I do not think it is very good ATM so I was getting a little depressed. Any reviews and suggestion appreciated to make it better, even if not used.

Jutsu list:

Kuchiyose no jutsu: Summoning technique

Kage bunshin no jutsu: Shadow Clone/Replication technique

Kawarimi no jutsu: Replacement technique

Gikochinai no jutsu: Stiffness technique

Hebi-hyouhi no jutsu: Snake skin technique

Sen'eijashu: Hidden shadow snake hands

Bunshin no jutsu: Clone/Replication technique

Jutsu shou: Technique neutralisation (Sarutobi used this in his fight against Orochimaru, against the third Edo Tensei)

Bunshin daibakuha no jutsu: Clone great explosion technique

Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu: Fire style: Great Fireball technique

Ninpou: Kirigakure no jutsu: Ninja art: Hidden in the mist technique

Fuuton: Daitoppa: Wind style: Great breakthrough

Note: Moushiwake arimasen is a very formal way of apologising.


	3. Stupid, grease covered pile of fur…

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, etc. etc. etc..

A/N: I apologise for the long update time for this chapter. I got a little too obsessed with Planescape: Torment over the last few weeks. If you do not value your career or social life too much, you should give it a try.

Not much, for a month's work, but I am sorry. Dreaded writer's block flew threw the widow and brained me, so I am afraid the quality of the chapter may be sub-par. Any tips at all for getting around this would be appreciated, also on how to improve my writing style.

ShrapnelMan: **you wanted a better translation for Demon Kid right? though i wasn't the one that mentioned it what the review said is somewhat true. i think that this would be a better translation but, in the end its up to you so its just another option;**

**datenshi**

**(n) fallen angel; demon**

**douji**

**(n) boy; kid; child**

**datenshi would work well because before he started going by the name "Akuma-gaki Akki" he was an innocent child (i.e. a fallen angel turned demon). douji because it starts with a D lol. so Datenshi Douji. just something to ponder.**

**i do hope you have him train specifically with his bloodline(s) sometime. otherwise it wouldn't really make sense for him to have them imo.**

**hope to read the next chapter soon.**

**peace,**

**Shrap.**

Datenshi sounds good, but doesn't really fit with the fact the people view him as being a demon since always. I don't know. I will have to ponder it a bit more, and I like the name Akki. But then, I change my mind a lot, so who knows? I have already written some things contradictory to my earlier plans, so…

For training Bloodlines, well… Hinata is on his team for a reason, and I quite like her (though I am not exclusively a NaruHina fan), and he _will_ be meeting Kimimaro at some point (though this is much less important, since it seems to me there is much less to learn, except the Dance of the Seedling Fern). This could change, of course.

kiatsuki: **Funny name for haspter two. You have a really nice story and i really want to know what happened to Naruto at that missing period time. I am really interested in finding out how orochimaru views him and if Jiraiya will teach him some techniques. normal naruto from cannon didn't have mush chakra control therefor he couldn't master the summoning technique rught away and it took him a month. akki, with his chakra control should be able to master it minimum a week. Will jiraiya teach him something new during that time? i cant wait to find out what happens next, thanks for a good story.**

Thanks.

Concerning Jiraiya: This is not a spoiler, since I have not decided this myself yet, but it could be quite improbable for Naruto to meet Jiraiya before the third exam, precisely because of his quite good chakra control. He would not be taken to the springs by Ebisu to learn water walking, and I cannot see how a good excuse could be made for him to turn up at the springs otherwise (why would he want to go to the springs, with all the people, especially when he has better things to do (training)?).

xan.tanuki: **Ne, what does taku mean? i looked it up online and it bsically said 'table, high' but i some don't think kakashi is calling naruto a table, OR WAS HE?**

**OVERALL GOOD, but a few spelling things here and there, but YOU MUST UPDATE, OR MY YOUTHFUL SENSEI WILL TEACH YOU TO BE YOUTHFULL!  
SENSEI!  
LEE!  
SENSEI!  
LEE! **

**YOUTH!**

Taku means "geez", or some similar, I think. Please correct me if I am wrong. Then again, I guess this Naruto seems quite boring to those around him, or at least to those who notice him without feeling bile rise to their throats, so maybe Kakashi DOES view him as a boring table, without even a little ornamentation. A cheap table, maybe:P

Which spelling things are these? Tell me and I will attempt to correct them.

On updates: I was afflicted by Planescape: Torment, so I must be absolved from blame! Gai would be a disproportionate punishment!

"Boo" speech

'Boo' thought

"**Boo**" Bijuu speech

'**Boo**' Bijuu thought

x

x

x

As the mist thickened, Akki heard the girl next to him quickly form some seals and then heard the bulge of the blood vessels around her eyes as her Byakugan activated. 'I did not know it could be done with seals, I have always used brute force. Not as if I can ask her to teach me though.' He felt the air move as she moved her head around to look in different directions, as she looked at each water clone in turn to see them in better focus. He felt her hot breath against his neck, contrasting with the cool mist. He trembled. He was still unused to such close proximity. Luckily he had his gikochinai off, or she would surely have seen it. He was also troubled by the fact he would not be able to do seal less techniques.

He gritted his teeth at being so helpless without his sight. 'Maybe I should have read those scrolls about enhancing senses with chakra? They are not useless here, despite being useless against chikiri no jutsu. Damn my lack of forethought!'

"_Eight choices. Liver, lungs, spine, clavical vein, jugular vein, brain, kidneys, heart. Which one should I go after?_" Akki heard Sasuke and Tazuna gasp, though Hinata was silent, no doubt because she could see exactly where the man was.

All of a sudden, Akki could feel Kakashi's chakra spike in an agitated way. 'Known as Ki or killing intent, often used with the death stance,' he thought. Kakashi's was practiced and efficient, but the fox had a much much larger volume, so he was fine, unlike Sasuke who seemed particularly affected, and Hinata who only showed some discomfort.

"Sasuke, don't worry. I'll protect you guys even if it kills me," the muffled voice of Kakashi said. "I don't let my comrades die."

"_We'll see about that!_" At that moment, Akki was vaguely aware of Hinata's head turning before he felt her small hand push him roughly near the centre of his spine, causing him to stumble forward and stoop, evading the huge sword that he saw pass over his head. Just after this he turned to see Kakashi smash into Zabuza and stab him in the chest with a kunai.

'Water clone,' he thought as he saw water drip from the wound before Hinata shouted, "Behind you, Kakashi-sensei!" He turned a bit to see another Zabuza rush Kakashi as the clone burst into water. The sword slashed through Kakashi, cutting him in half in a spray of… water.

X

Akki and the others stared at the water clone that rose up from the sea in front of an imprisoned Kakashi, surrounded by a globe of water that prevented him from moving, with the real Zabuza's hand stuck in it, sustaining it. Kakashi looked on as the clone walked onto the dry land and straightened up, helpless to help his subordinates. He heard the man to his left chuckle.

"Hehe, wearing forehead protectors and acting like real ninja… But you know what? A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death. Basically, once you're good enough to be listed in my handbook, then you can start calling yourself ninja. You guys should not be referred to as ninja." The clone ran forward and kicked the closest child, Hinata, hard in the stomach before stepping back again.

"Hinata?!" Sasuke shouted as he ran to her and helped her pick herself up from the ground, wiping dirt out of her white eyes.

"You have a Byakugan user, Kakashi. I did not realise the clan was so weak…"

"You guys!" Kakashi shouted, "Take Tazuna-san and run away! You have no chance of beating him! As long as he's keeping me trapped in this prison he can't move. The water clone cannot go very far from his real body. Just run away now!" Akki stepped forward as Sasuke took Hinata and Tazuna little further away from the clone. "That was an order, Akki! Leave now!"

"Ie. I cannot obey your order and still obey the higher orders you gave me five months ago, Kakashi-sensei. You said, 'Those who don't follow the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are lower still.' Those are my orders."

"Going to keep 'playing' ninja, ka? When I… When I was about your age, these hands were already dyed red with blood."

"Devil Zabuza…"

"Ah… so you've heard about it?

"Long ago, in the hidden mist village, also called the Blood Mist village, there was a final obstacle in becoming a ninja…"

"You even know about that graduation exam…"

"Yes."

"I bet that even your little demon over there, Akki-kun, would piss his pants if he was in that situation, ne, Kakashi?"

"I killed your subordinate, one of the Demon Brothers, Zabuza-sama. I remember getting quite bloody at the time. It was not my first kill."

Hinata and Sasuke looked at him with disbelief.

"Oh? How many is that then, your kills?"

"Depends… do you mean before or after the sealing process?"

Hinata and Sasuke visibly relaxed.

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind. I am not much for small talk," said Akki as took a kunai from his pouch.

"Throwing shuriken and kunai will not be enough against me."

"Perhaps."

"Hehe… You _are_ a confident brat," said the clone, grinning.

Akki ignored him and threw the kunai, not at the clone, but at the real one and the water prison. He then performed a quick set of seals and said, "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The single kunai became hundreds, all flying towards the wide area that included Kakashi and Zabuza. 'What is he doing? If the technique goes down I will get hit by one!' thought Kakashi. As the multitude of kunai neared them, Zabuza gripped his huge sword and swung it in front of him several time, deflecting all the kunai that were otherwise going to hit him, the deflected kunai surrounding him, both in the water and in the air. He grinned again before he heard Akki shout, "GET DOWN!"

Hinata dropped to the ground as Sasuke dragged Tazuna down with him, with Akki already on the floor. There was the sound of hundreds of large explosions from small objects, the kunai, as Akki set off all the exploding tags that were wrapped around their handles, as on the original kunai, though unnoticed. Instinctively Kakashi struggled against the treacle-like water as he curled himself up. He felt the heavy feeling around him dissipate, and he dropped into the normal water below.

He stood up in time for Zabuza to pick himself up from the ground using his sword. He was in bad shape, despite having protected the front of his torso with his wide sword, now dented. His right arm was floating in the water, severed at the shoulder by the disconnected blade of a kunai during the explosions. There were bleeding holes in his other arms and legs where shrapnel was embedded. A moment later, there was a poofing sound as the clone kunai pieces disappeared, including those in his body, causing him to wince. "You bastard! I'll kill you!" he shouted as he started to painfully step towards the now standing Jinchuuriki. Before Kakashi could do anything, two needles flew from the trees and embedded themselves in Zabuza's neck, seemingly killing him.

They all looked up to see a masked person of around the age of the genin. "He is dead," said the person as Kakashi checked Zabuza's pulse. 'He really is dead…' "Doumo arigatou gozaimashita. I have been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time."

"That mask… You're a Kirigakure Hunter-nin…"

"… Impressive. You are correct." The boy faced Akki who was looking at him oddly, "Well done to you especially, and you would be…?"

Sasuke glared enviously at Akki as he said, "My primary identifier is Akuma-Gaki Akki, Konohagakure no Sato's resident subhuman, and genin for five months."

The hunter-nin looked a bit taken aback by this while Kakashi swore in his mind. 'He seems to wear his low status like a badge of honour when any normal human being would want to improve it!' "I see."

The hunter then used shunshin no jutsu to teleport to Zabuza's body. "Your battle is now over," he said, picking up the severed arm. "And now I must dispose of this body, since it seems to be a body with many secrets. Farewell." With that he teleported away.

"Alright," said Kakashi, "Let's go to Tazuna's house."

"Yeah, super thanks guys! I am sure that Tsunami will be happy for you to relax at the house for the mission time!"

"Arigatou, Tazuna-san. Hinata, are you OK?"

"H-Hai," she said, stooping as she clutched her abdomen, "I-I think I will b-be fine…"

"Let's go then."

As they continued their twice interrupted journey, Kakashi walked in such a way as to get close to Naruto, and have both out of the earshot of all the others. He said, "You have been displaying several new talents recently, Akki-kun. Have you been hiding them away deliberately?"

"Hai. I view it as routine, and wouldn't be surprised if Hinata and Sasuke were doing the same, given the amount of times you have reminded us how fundamental deceit and stealth are."

"So does that mean there is more that you are keeping safe from the world, Akki-kun?"

"No comment, Kakashi-sensei."

"Hehe… very good. What are you doing all this for?"

"I don't understand you fully."

"What is there not to understand? Why are you going to such lengths to hide your strength and, seemingly to get very strong too? It is commendable of course, but what is it you do in your free time, after training and missions?"

"Training."

"And what else?"

"What do you mean, what else?"

"As I thought. Now, why are you doing this? To become Hokage? To make a lot of money from missions? To kill someone?"

"I have read that throughout history Jinchuuriki have been used as weapons by their villages. I view that as my purpose. What other reason could Hokage-sama have put me in the academy for, especially during the middle of the year?"

Kakashi stopped, and looked into Akki's eyes after he turned around. "You really think that?"

"Hai, and what better service can I give to the village than that, Kakashi-sensei? Social networking? Diplomacy? Military liaison to civilians? Loving parent to the next generation, perhaps? You know full well that none of them are possible, Kakashi-sensei, so please do not interfere."

"sigh" 'I am afraid I cannot do that in good conscience, Akki-kun.'

Akki nodded to himself as they carried on walking. 'Chance has granted me a favour! Yatta! I am lucky for once!'

X

X

At length they arrived at Tazuna's house. They stood on the wharf by the door as Tazuna knocked. They heard the clattering of plates being put down and then the steps of a walking person. The door was then opened by a dark haired woman who looked to be approximately 30 years old. "Hello? Oh, it's you tou-san, you're back. Who are these people?"

"These are the ninja I hired to protect me on my journey, and the reason I got here at all."

She turned to them, "My name is Tsunami. You have my gratitude…?"

"Hatake Kakashi. These are my subordinates, Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata and... Akuma-Gaki Akki." Kakashi said, pointing them out in turn.

There was an awkward silence, before Tazuna said: "I'll explain later, Tsunami."

"Er… Right. You lot had best come in then."

x

x

Naruto walked through the streets of the town, taking in the sights of disheartened men standing around in front of notice boards in vain hope of work, these notice boards situated at every street corner, almost. Having left the house after a quickly prepared meal, listening in on the largely inconsequential conversation between his team-mates and client, his request to be excused granted, he had walked quickly to the main shopping street. The shops had been largely closed and empty of goods, with the ones open with a bare selection and long queues. He had asked a few locals about the situation and, apparently, the cause of the distress was a result of Gatou's monopoly tactics: having total control of the supply, he had reduced it to a fraction of previous levels in order to vastly increase the price, to the point that the average family was half-starved, the well-off getting by, and poor reduced to petty crime, or eviction.

As he turned into a side street, beginning his journey back to the house, he stopped still at a sight he had not seen for years. His ears were filled by the chattering and shrieking of filthy children playing in the street, no doubt respite from pestering strangers for money or food, as he could well remember.

"Oi, you got anythin', Blondie?"

"Ie, nothing but kunai," he said to the girl at his side.

"Kunai? You got a vegetable patch, then?"

He was momentarily startled, before he remembered that his kunai were derived from kunai used every day by many people as gardening tools, as trowels. He laughed bitterly, "No, no. I do not have a vegetable patch, nor seed for it; none was available to buy, so all I have are useless tools. I cannot help you, but tell me: where are your parents? There are so many of you here, but no one older than me."

"We're orphans!" said the girl, laughing a little, still, at the idea of someone with a lot of gardening equipment and no garden. "The orphanage closed down yesterday, so we can go to bed now any time we like, if we had beds, that is. It's been a fun adventure so far though, and--"

"I'm sure. Look, I'm sorry, but I really must be going. I heard that there has been a shipment of vegetables just arrived and I want to get there before the rush, bye!" he said, starting to run through the street as fast as he could."

The girl shouted as he ran, "But Blondie, the docks are the other way!"

x

He ran for what seemed like hours, drawing inquisitive looks from those he passed, before he finally collapsed against the wall of a deserted alley. He slid down the wall until his backside touched the ground. He panted as he tried to wipe the images from his mind, as he saw his younger self drive his bone-spiked hand through the chest of the bloody, yet-living, body of a boy of similar age to him then. He looked up, hoping that the azure sky might avail him of some relief, might drive the images away, but with no success, the memory repeating itself over and over in his mind, until he finally managed to have physical pain drive them away, smashing his head repeatedly against the wall behind him.

He watched the clouds dance in the sky, different layers at different velocities as they were carried by the high winds hundreds of metres up. He let the sight soothe him as he sat there. How long had it been since he had been so badly affected by that memory? Must this happen every time he encountered a situation like that? He shook his head. As a ninja there would be many opportunities to see things like that, and he resolved himself to repress that reaction to the memory completely. He had been fortunate not to have been seen at the start or finish of his run by anyone except children, and run itself could be passed off as training,

He stood up, and dusted himself down, and then staring towards the setting sun. He has been out longer than he had anticipated, and he would have to hurry back to the house, if only he could find it, to be in time for the evening meal.

x

Over an hour later, he leaned against the door of the house, letting it open. He stepped into the kitchen, where Tsunami was cooking. She turned her head towards him and said, "Ah, er... Akki-san, you are just in time. They were wondering where you were. The meal should be ready in a quarter of an hour."

He nodded, sitting down in a chair by the table, waiting for his heart rate to subside. "So..." asked Tsunami, "why are you so beaten up? You look like you have been dragged through the market while tied to a wagon!"

He looked down at himself, and noticed how dishevelled he was looking, his clothes scuffed, with sprays of mud distributed liberally. He looked back at her. "I had a run through the town, but perhaps I was too reckless."

"Perhaps you were indeed! If your clothes are like that after just a run, then what are they like, when you go through the training they were talking about earlier? Do you have to buy a new set each time?"

"Thankfully, not." 'I can't afford it, despite not spending my money on anything else. Thank fuck for the library!'

"Really? Perhaps this training is not as strenuous as I thought! What is it that you do in your free time?"

'She is trying to _talk_ to me. Talk. I conclude that I dislike it when people do that. People should just ignore me as usual, much easier to deal with.' "Train."

"Apart from that, I meant."

"I don't follow."

"What is it you do apart from train?"

"I do missions with my team."

"In your free time, I mean. What is it you do when you are _not_ training or doing missions?"

He paused for as long as he dared, before replying, "Train some more." He was rewarded with a sigh from the woman, who then carried on cooking in silence. 'Go go Akki, conversation killer extraordinaire!'

Some moments later, Sasuke walked into the room. He sat down across from the blonde and stared at him for a few seconds before saying, "Oi, bakemono, Kakashi-sensei says that we will be starting some special training tomorrow. He thinks that Zabuza is alive, and that the hunter-nin was his accomplice, so he wants to prepare us for another encounter."

"You're still going to die though," said young boy in the doorway, who had followed Sasuke. "Who's this guy with the black fixation?"

The elder boys turned towards him, Akki grinning evilly at the younger child saying, "Didn't you know demons are immortal?"

"Eh?!"

"Inari-kun... he is called Akki. He is one of the ninja who came with your grandfather."

"His name is Akki? I hate posers," he said, and turned away from a smirking Akki, who said:

"And I hate oracles. I am sure we will get along like ribs and kunai." 'What an annoying little turd.'

x

x

March22nd:

'Akki can already water-walk, so let's see if he can walk up trees as well.' "Akki! Please demonstrate tree-climbing as I did and walk up to me!" shouted Kakashi, hanging off a thick branch by his feet.

The two others stared at Akki as he started calmly walking along the trunk of the tree, his face devoid of all emotion. As he neared Kakashi, he said, "Is there anything else, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Not at this time. How long since you learnt how to do this?"

"Three years."

"Good." 'Three years? Did he find an old course book, back from when this was in the curriculum at the academy?' "Hinata, you learnt this as part of your clan training, I assume?"

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei."

"Show me."

"Hai." She walked up to the same branch, which creaked slightly as she stepped on. "I can also do the water-walk, sensei."

"Excellent," he said, his visible eye forming the inverted u-shape to indicate his concealed smile. 'I will have to teach those two a technique instead, for them to pass the time. I have just the one...' "I will see to the two of you in a few minutes after I deal with Sasuke," he said, staring down at the lone dark-haired boy on the ground, glaring fiercely at the other two. He smiled again, 'With that attitude, Sasuke will likely be one of the best jounin Konoha has had for years, if only the enthusiasm could be redirected.'

x

Hinata watched quietly as Sasuke ran a quarter the way up one of the trees, envying his progress compared to hers when she was being trained. Then again, this was nothing compared to her other team-mate. The contrast to her former impression of his ability was staggering, if not unnerving, made worse by his unsociability, which annoyed her, despite her mild manners and shyness, and despite her lingering distrust of him. Being stuck between two quiet team-mates was stressful as she always felt as if she was somewhat obligated to speak in situations where it would be against her nature, as no one else would.

The object of her musings was sitting on a branch, with his normal blank expression. 'I wonder what he is thinking? His facial expressions resist my attempts to read them; it is almost as if he's an autistic: they are very limited. I wonder...' She turned away as he noticed her gaze, and towards a now ground bound Kakashi pacing towards them.

He smiled as he approached, and then walked onto the nearby river, indicating for them to follow, which they did. He then said, "As you both can already water-walk, I have a technique for you that supplements this skill, especially when combined with your eyes, Hinata, and which you have already seen. This is the mist creating technique that Zabuza used before, Kirigakure no jutsu!"

He slowly formed a few seals in front of them, a small amount of mist forming around his feet. "What you do is that you push chakra onto the water's surface, encouraging evaporation, and then force more into the vapour using nature manipulation, forming yet more water vapour, but without any extra heat. As you should know from your elementary thermodynamics course, this spread of the same amount of energy over a larger amount of water will cause the temperature to drop, causing the water to collect into small droplets, forming a mist."

'At last, after five months, he is teaching us a new ninjutsu,' thought Akki. 'It is extremely similar to chikiri, though, so hopefully this will be easy to pick up—" His thoughts were interrupted when Kakashi pushed a small scroll into his hands. He looked at it and read the title, handwritten in Kakashi's writing: 'Chakra-based sense-enhancement techniques? Yatta! Have I ever been this lucky?'

Hinata slowly formed the seals and forced the moulded chakra through her feet and into the water, struggling to keep herself steady on the water. A modest amount of mist gathered around her legs before dissipating. She looked towards Akki, who was having difficulty getting any mist at all. Using her Byakugan, she looked at him as he made another attempt, and immediately saw what he was doing wrong: he was only vaporising water that was in contact with his own body, his own sweat, creating a serious bottleneck for him; he was not pushing the chakra into the water around him as Kakashi had said. She opened her mouth to speak, and then thought better of it. 'He might simply be trying something else, or he might be annoyed by the intrusion.' Another, lesser used voice in her head, used only towards Akki (she hardly dreamed of using it on anyone else) said, 'Why should we assist a demon anyway, even if it is on our team? Besides, how can you trust him?'

x

Kakashi sat on a branch, giving him a view of all his students when not engrossed in his book. Sasuke had been progressing at a fast pace and was now 3/4 of the way up the tree, and so perhaps 1/20 of the way to mastering the skill. He seemed to have benefited from the calm of his solitude, allowing him to grasp it quickly. Hinata was resting on the bank, exhausted, but had been able to create a few cubic metres of mist before she started resting. Akki, on the other hand, was a different story. His stamina seemed to know no bounds, but he did not seem to have made any significant progress. Kakashi knew the reason, and had to restrain his chuckles. The boy had been vaporising his sweat for hours now, though recently there had been a significant amount of it, creating some significant mist. The result of this, of course, was that he was absolutely sodden, with most of the moisture, both the sweat and the added water, being trapped in his clothing. If this carried on too long, his blonde hair would be green with mildew.

The boy finished his latest attempt, and then stopped for a moment as if thinking, before he started again. Unlike the previous times, mist started to gather around his feet, as opposed to sifting through his clothes like before, and thickened quickly. 'It looks like he has finally grasped it, it took him long enough,' thought Kakashi. He then felt the blond's chakra spike as if he wanted to pour it all into the water, before he saw the boy achieve approximately a ten-metre-cube, or 100 metre cubes, of mist, which quickly dissipated.

Smirking a little to himself, Kakashi stood up on the branch and shouted, "Well done team, but we will be going now. Tsunami should have finished cooking in twenty minutes."

x

Naruto sat quietly as he ate, listening in on the more interesting parts of the conversation, and so ignoring the polite pleasantries between the two 'nobles' on his team. It seemed that yet another of Tazuna's workmen had backed out of the bridge-building project, and the pace of construction was the slowest it had been since their arrival. From listening, he had grown to admire Tazuna somewhat, standing up to such a man as Gatou despite the risks. 'However,' he thought, 'what he really should do is ask us to perform an assassination mission against the man, but it does not seem to be in his nature.'

His thoughts turned to the food: it was delicious. Tsunami seemed to really know how to cook, and buying the ingredients for this many extra people must have been costing them a small fortune. Tazuna would be bankrupted if they took any longer to build the bridge, he was sure, with the food prices as they were in the Wave. 'However, to express such sentiments would break the image of inapproachability I have achieved.'

His musings were interrupted by Hinata raising her soft voice above the rumble of general conversation. "A-ano... why do you have a t-torn p-picture on the wall, Tazuna-san?" she said, pointing towards the object, but with her elbow still touching her torso in her shy body-language, "Inari-kun was st-taring at this during d-dinner, and it seems like someone p-purposefully r-removed the person that was in the picture..."

He turned his head towards Tazuna, who had stilled after looking up at Hinata, who, from his peripheral vision, he could see shrinking back from the attention. He could no longer hear the clatter of plates as Tsunami worked, indicating a pause. The old man looked down a bit at the table, before replying, "The person removed was my daughter's husband, my son-in-law, who was once called the hero of the city..."

There was the sound of a chair being pushed back as Inari left the table and walked towards the landing door. "Inari, where are you going?" asked Tsunami to her son before the door slammed. "Inari!" She turned her head towards Tazuna, "Father! I have told you not to talk about that man in front of Inari!"

There was a short pause before Sasuke asked, "What is wrong with the kid?"

"There seems to be some kind of explanation," said Kakashi.

Tazuna sighed and said, with Akki's attention on him, "Inari had a father not related by blood. They were very close, like a real father and son. Inari would laugh a lot back then..." He paused in thought.

'Brilliant, a sob story for entertainment this evening, thank you so very much, Hinata-sama…' mused Akki as he leant back in his chair and gulped down another cup of water. He glanced around to see that the others' attention was held entirely by Tazuna's story. Kakashi was staring at the man with his gone eye, Sasuke had swivelled his eyes in the man's direction, and Hinata was staring at the table by Tazuna's plate. 'Haha… one dimension of each of their personalities revealed by this one image.'

"But… But Inari changed since the incident with his father… The word 'courage' has been stolen from the people of this island, and from Inari, ever since that day, because of that incident…" he paused again.

'Get on with it! Surely you are not so old that you must pause to take a deep breath every couple of sentences! Taku…' Akki noted that the other three were still more intently focussed on the man.

"That incident? What happened to Inari-kun?" asked Kakashi in a soft voice.

"Before I do that, I first have to tell you about the man who was called the hero of this city."

'Yes, please do, I hate to think that this entire place is filled with bigger Inaris.' "Who was he?"

As the old man went on, Naruto's mind was plagued by images that paralleled the story being told. _He saw himself running through the streets of the docks area of a city, with dark green uniformed men chasing after him, even though he had dropped the bread, he remembered. He turned into an alley, and then felt a tug when he was pulled into a doorway and carried up some stairs, though corridors until he was on the roof of a pub, the reek alcohol, rotting rice and a faint smell of vomit rising from the street below. Two drunken men were sitting on the roof's apex, and had just paused their singing, and the smell of sake was on the breath of the man carrying him towards the two, who said, "Hey guys, I got the midget the filth were after, you know, the one with the stick legs."_

"_Oright," said one, allowing his empty cup to slide down the roof and into the gutter, wiping his sake covered hands on his clothes, and taking out of a pocket a packet of nuts and pushing them into the boy's face. "Want some?"_

_The boy looked at the man as he was placed down of the roof and remained silent, a confused expression on his face. The as yet silent man spoke, "You stingy bastard, this kid's been running all the way from the market while chased by the plods, and you offer him half a pack of nuts! Is your wife eating at your beer budget, or what?"_

"_Shut up, you drunken idiot!"_

"_Drunken? What are you then, a barrel?"_

_As the two bickered, the fetcher leaned down to the boy's ear and said, "What's your name, then, son?"_

Then, after some fleeting memories of living in a house with the family of the first man, he again saw those three hanging bodies twisting in the breeze as Tazuna paused again. "…As did Tsunami, and the whole city…"

There was silence for a few seconds until Akki noticed the stare that his sensei was giving him. "What is it, Kakashi-sensei? Am I dribbling?"

"No, no," answered his sensei as attention was focussed on them, "I was just wondering I really had seen an expression on your face that wasn't blank." The jounin then allowed his smile to show on his eye.

Akki's eyes narrowed at his teacher as he replied: "I will answer your unspoken question Kakashi-sensei: I have no sympathy at all for those who are too emotionally weak to either sort out or get over their own problems, so do not try to infer sentiment from a facial twitch." He stood up, ignoring everyone else in the room and their reactions, so that they were not known to him, and walked to the door, picking up his pack. "I am going to train by the river. Good night, ladies and gentlemen." He opened the door, stepped through, and restrained himself from slamming it behind him, closing it softly.

X

X

March 27th:

The fake hunter-nin walked through the wood, clothed in a loose yukata, collecting herbs to help ease Zabuza's pain. As he turned a corner, he saw a figure in a tree, clothed in black, lying face down on a branch. He recognised the face as the one who had removed Zabuza's arm that he had had to stitch back on. He started running towards the boy until something else stirred in his memory: _"My primary identifier is Akuma-Gaki Akki, Konohagakure no Sato's resident subhuman, and genin for five months."_

He walked until he was under the blond's branch, and tugged on the arm that was hanging off, saying, "You'll catch a cold if you sleep in this place."

Akki's eyes opened and he jumped down next to his awakener and said, "Ohayou gozaimasu." He sat down against the tree and removed his pack, rummaging through it until he found a ration bar. He chewed it while passing his eyes over the person before him, who asked:

"What have you been doing here, shinobi-san?"

Akki looked up at him once more, reflexively touching his left hand to the metal plate on his neck. "I was doing a few exercises, that is all."

"Why? What is it that motivates you?"

"I have need to become stronger and more skilled than I am currently. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, I am just curious. We do not see many ninja in the Wave."

"I see."

There was a pause while Akki took another bite of his ration, and the other picked a few herbs from the ground in front of him. "What are you gathering those plants for?"

"Oh, I have a sick friend, and I need these to make a painkiller."

Akki stood up. "I suppose that I will leave you to it, then, and continue my training." He started walking deeper into the forest, dragging his pack behind him.

"Shinobi-san, one more question…"

"Hmmm…?"

"Why do you need to become stronger?"

The blond stared up into the sky as if in thought. Still facing the sky, he swivelled his eyes to meet those of his questioner, and narrowed them slightly. "No particular reason. It is quite trivial, really."

"Trivial? Are you just trying to prove something then?"

"Prove? You could construe that…"

"Who to? Yourself? Some precious person?"

"Wha…?"

"When someone has a precious person, someone they must protect, that is from where true strength comes."

"Not much use to me, then," said the blond as he turned to go, again.

"Why is that, shinobi-san?"

"You had said just one more question."

"Still, why did you say that?"

The blond turned his head towards him again, but this time without the previously calm countenance, but with one of bitter anger: "None of your business," he said, and jumped into the trees and away.

X

March 28th:

A red mist spread through the forest, rich with the stench of blood, as if the mist itself had spread from someone's injured body. The area of the forest covered by it suddenly had its silence broken by the squeal of a forest animal, whose eyes and nose had been blinded by the bloody mist. Naruto heard the squeal, and sent all the bloody mist around him towards the sound, and ran in its direction.

Standing in a tree, he saw the red covered area, and the areas previously mist-covered with blood, his blood, dripping from the leaves, his hand on his chest where the wound had just healed. He directed the mist closer around the source of the squealing sound, until it was all contained in a ball of approximately 2 metres radius, moving quickly through the forest. 'A boar,' he thought.

He followed the mist ball, jumping through the trees until he got into a position he found comfortable. A split second later, a kunai was flying through the air towards the boar in the red mist, and struck it somewhere, but did not kill it outright, causing even louder squeals. He smiled grimly as he heard the kunai change back into a shadow clone and then call out loudly, "Chikiri no jutsu!"

The sound of the animal's screams was almost unbearable, as the misty area greatly increased in size. The technique was drawing out the animal's blood to form more mist, killing it in a very painful way, jetting out of his wound like a geyser. Naruto jumped down by its side as it died with the clone poofing away into non-existence. As he allowed the mist to disperse, he took in the sight of the pale, bloodless, boar body. 'Concept confirmed.'

He picked up the corpse with one hand, noticing how light it was without its blood. 'If there are boars here, why don't people hunt them during this food shortage?' He then noticed how thin the boar was in any case, and injuries that looked like it had escaped from a hunting party. 'Hmmm… Maybe this was the last one on the island? Oh, well… I now, at least, have something to repay the hospitality of our clients.'

X

Sasuke was annoyed. He had climbed the trees, and been given Kirigakure no jutsu to practise, but most of his time had been spent trying to find his blond team-mate, without success. He was being held back by his team-mate, and humiliated as well. He, the rookie of the year, and survivor of the Uchiha clan, was being humiliated by the dead-last and demon. This could not be borne. He blamed his sensei, who had insisted that Hinata should guard the old man, when she would have been more useful finding Akki, so his time would not be wasted.

He was sitting at the kitchen table when he heard the door open. Akki stepped in, dragging a boar corpse behind him. "Where the hell have you been, you akki?!"

Akki his head towards him, "Moushiwake arimasen, Sasuke-sama. I was training in the forest."

"Shut up with your fake politeness, you bastard!"

"What is going on here?" said Tsunami as she walked into the kitchen. She stopped still when she saw that Akki had returned.

"Ohayou gozaimasu, Tsunami-sama. I brought some food with me," said Akki, holding out the boar in front of him.

Tsunami's eyes widened, "Where did you get that?"

"The forest."

"Akki-san, it is illegal to hunt the Daimyo's animals!"

"Should I destroy it, then?"

There was silence for a moment as Tsunami opened her mouth to speak but stopped short of saying anything. She coughed, and said, "Akki-kun, place it in the pantry, please. I will deal with it later."

"Hai, Tsunami-sama." Akki dragged the corpse into a door by the cooker and dumped the boar there, and then stepped back into the kitchen, to find that Kakashi was standing in front of him.

"Ohayou, Akki-kun. Where have you been?"

"I have been training in the forest, Kakashi-sensei. I think that I have become sufficiently proficient with Kirigakure no jutsu to make it useful."

Kakashi nodded. "You will be taking over from Hinata in guarding Tazuna, then."

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei."

X

X

March 29th:

"So, you designed this bridge, Tazuna-sama?"

Tazuna turned to his young protector. He had been displeased with the change of plan. The girl, shy as she was, had been charming and amiable. Akki, on the other hand, had seemed judgemental to him ever since his calling Inari 'emotionally weak'. Other aspects of his personality that could be made out were: he was quiet, subservient with a hint of resentfulness, and, now, inquisitive. "Yes, I designed it. Why? Do you find it unbelievable that the Wave could achieve this?"

"I merely note that there is no university in Wave that is of significance, so I wonder where you learned engineering, Tazuna-sama," replied Akki, who was standing on his hands with a bored expression on his face.

"Hmmmph. If you must know, I went to the Metropolitan University in Fire City," he said. He then sighed, and said, "I was planning on going West after my degree to design bridges for the huge cities they have there and have a good life. Alas, I failed my degree and was sent back here."

"I hear that they do not even have Daimyos in the West…"

"It's true. Apparently, the rulers there are merchants and businessmen. Gatou comes from the West, you know."

"Really? What is it like to live there?"

"No idea, never been, and never really met anyone from there." He stared towards the Fire Country and the space they still had to cross. "What you said about Inari, that really was not fair…"

"Ask Kakashi, he can provide a better answer. Better still; get Inari to ask Kakashi."

"Why?"

"If I answered you, you would call me a liar or some such."

"Is your experience so terrible that you can speak so about Inari?"

"I wouldn't know where to begin. Remember what I said to the hunter-nin? It was not in jest."

"I bet it was. You kids today are so full of yourselves. Never speak of Inari like that again."

"Whatever you wish."

X

X

April 29th:

Akki sat on the floor of the kitchen as Tsunami saw to the housework. It had been more than a month since they had arrived in Wave, and Kakashi-sensei expected that their opponents would be ready to strike about now. He had been told to guard Tsunami and Inari from any attack and, after defending them, to take them to the den in the forest they had prepared, and then assist at the bridge. Thankfully he had packed a book with him, Seals that Changed the World: History of the Great Seals, Vol. 2, so he was spared the boredom that guards usually suffer from. Unfortunately, the Kyubi was not so engrossed in the book as he was.

"**Come on, can't you do something fun? Slaughter a few innocents? Eat strong cheese? Get drunk? Even train? You know I depend on extremes of sensation, why do you torture me so?!**"

'Please, I am trying to concentrate! The chakra tails should provide enough sensation for you in the meantime. In fact, have control of one, just be quiet!'

"**Fine, that is satisfactory, but remember, if good sensations are not in good supply over the next month I will make it so you can only swim in your own drool!**"

'Idiot.'

"**Killjoy.**"

'Stupid, grease-covered pile of fur…'

"**I am not grease-covered you simian halfwit!**"

'Yes, you are, you look like you haven't bathed for, oh… thirteen years! No wonder you haven't got a wife!'

"**Oh, how I wish I was in a physical prison, so I could shout about this cruel and unusual punishment—**"

'Well, nyah nyah nyah… Just be quiet, I need to focus!'

"**Tail!**"

'Right, right. A moment please.'

Regaining his concentration, he sent a pulse of chakra to his tenketsu again, sending out 361 different 'tails' of chakra to their maximum reach: 5 metres out, covering the whole room and the area outside the door, and the upper floor. He smiled to himself; there was no Hyuuga to see this, so he could finally feel safe. He released some of the fox's chakra to a tenketsu point on the Shiki Fujin seal, which then started moving of its own accord. Its movements took it towards Tsunami's neck, which it then touched.

Naruto suddenly knew that Tsunami's neck smelt of cheap soap, gave the sound of the blood being pumped through it, tasted of… skin and was smooth. As the fox worked down the rest of the woman's body, feeling every crevice, feeling the texture of every article of clothing, Naruto shut that tail off from his consciousness and resumed his concentration on the house and its surroundings, and on his book.

A short while later, his tails registered the presence of two men walking towards the house. He sensed that they had katana, and that their hands were on them. He sensed their muscles tense, ready to draw the swords. Akki stood up and faced the door, his katars ready in his hands. The moment had come. He recalled the chakra from the tails, sensing the fox's feeling of anticipation. Before Tsunami could ask him what was going on, there was the sound of metal cutting wood as the door, its frame and part of the wall was cut away, revealing the two swordsmen.

As soon as the man's sword was back in its scabbard, Akki launched himself at him. The man hurriedly drew his sword again and blocked Akki's left hand strike, but the right katar struck him in left part of his abdomen, passing through his spleen, large intestine and kidney, and causing him to collapse down to the ground, bleeding heavily. The man on Akki's left quickly drew his sword and swung it down at the boy. Akki pushed over the still falling other man and stepped over him, avoiding the sword stroke, before turning to face the still standing swordsman. The swordsman slashed at him, aiming to cut from Akki's right shoulder to the left of his abdomen.

Akki brought his left katar over to his right shoulder and parried the sword stroke, hitting the sword with the blade of his katar and then pulling them both to his left, in a similar direction to the original direction of the sword. This caused the swordsman to spin around, exposing his back to Akki's right katar, which sliced between his ribs just to the left of his spine and cut open his heart, killing the man in a spray of blood. Ignoring the screams of Tsunami, and the pattering of Inari's feet down the stairs, he turned again to the injured first swordsman, the one who had cut down the door, knelt down, and slit his throat.

Tsunami and Inari stared in horror at the bloody sight in front of them. They saw Akki turn towards them, blood dripping from his face and his fringe, as well as soaking the front of his shirt, who said, "Tsunami-sama, Inari-sama, we must now go to the den, where you will remain until one of my team-mates gets you. We must do this quickly, then I will be able to find Tazuna."

Tsunami nodded, and picked up the dumbstruck Inari, then ran out of the back door of the house, with Akki following, watching for any danger.

X

20 minutes later:

Naruto stood in a tree near the Wave end of the bridge, staring into the mist that covered the end of the bridge. He zoomed in on his companions; his sight not obscured by the mist at all, and saw them forming the swastika formation around Tazuna. He felt a spinning sensation in his eyes as he pumped more chakra into them, and time seemed to slow.

He searched around the bridge area a bit until he found Zabuza and the hunter-nin, and saw the former form some seals. His eyes darted back to his team-mates, who were then surrounded by water clones, except for the area around Hinata, where each clone had been hit o the heart as they were forming. There was a pause for conversation, which he did not bother to decipher, and Sasuke then slashed the other clones to pieces. There was more conversation, and then Sasuke and the hunter-nin charged at each other, kunai and needle clattering off each other many times each second, until they stopped, with their weapons touching.

There was yet more conversation, and Naruto's face twitched as he thought, 'More grandstanding, eh? Why not just shut up and fight?' He then saw the one-handed seals used by the hunter, and the ice needles that appeared in the air from the surrounding water, which then flew inwards towards Sasuke. 'I thought the Hyouton was supposed to be extinct? In any case, nice technique, I'll take it!' He saw the hunter look up, and saw the shuriken fall towards him from above, where Sasuke had jumped before.

There were a few more seconds of acrobatics, and then Sasuke kicked away the hunter. After yet more conversation, the hunter stood back up again and formed a seal, with both hands this time. The water on the bridge rose into the air yet again, this time forming many thin slabs of ice surrounding Sasuke's position. Naruto's brow furrowed, 'What is this technique?' He then saw the hunter step into one of slabs ad become as one with it, and then saw him flying extremely quickly from slab to slab, so fast that Sasuke, who had yet to activate his sharingan as far as Naruto knew, would only see the hunter being in all slabs at once. 'Nice! Pity I am not good enough to use it yet… Maybe Hyouton is not as useless as I thought?'

He saw Kakashi rush towards the dome of ice slabs, but he was intercepted by Zabuza. 'More talking, boring.' Suddenly, the hunter threw a needle at Sasuke, then many more. 'What is he playing at? He's only aiming to scratch the skin! Why is he not trying to kill Sasuke?' Outside the dome, he saw Kakashi say something, and then grip his forehead protector, but was stopped from lifting it by Zabuza thrusting a kunai at him, which he had to catch, injuring his hands, causing him to bleed. There was more talking… 'Gah!'

As the mist thickened, he saw Tazuna edge closer to Hinata as he would have been instructed. At that moment, Kakashi was assailed by a multitude of Shuriken, but managed to deflect them all with a kunai. Then more talking… Then Kakashi getting beaten about a bit, then he saw Zabuza attack Tazuna. Hinata pushed the man away from her, saving his life but separating them, leaving the man defenceless from Zabuza's next attack. He saw Kakashi scramble to get to Tazuna, using his body as a shield, scratching his left arm on Zabuza's sword. After some more talking, annoying Naruto immensely, Kakashi drew out a scroll from his vest…

His attention turned back to the ice dome. He saw that Sasuke's eyes had gone red, 'Good for him, I guess…' and that he was now completely dodging. 'This cannot last. I must now obey Kakashi-sensei's orders. The hunter will soon lose his patience and will try a killing move.' He let his eyes fade into their normal blue mediocrity.

X

Kakashi gripped the edge of the scroll he was holding, ready to unravel it and perform his technique, when he heard a burst of static through his radio, and Akki's voice: "Fuuton Daitoppa, East to West. Five seconds." His eyes widened and he threw himself to the floor, clutching the scroll tightly in his hand.

Hinata heard the radio message and dragged Tazuna down with her, positioning herself to his East, in order to shield him a little.

Sasuke dropped down to the deck of the bridge, avoiding needles heading for his neck, when a whistling sound started to rise, his radio having been cut off by a needle minutes earlier. He was caught by the wind and dragged along the bridge deck until he reached the incomplete edge of the bridge, where he hung on. As he felt the wind drop, he jumped back onto the deck, and dodged a kunai that seemed to be flying right at him.

The kunai dropped down towards the deck, but was replaced with a cloud of smoke before it landed, revealing Akki standing there, his face blank but for the blood. Sasuke turned to him, but, before he could comment, a needle of steel struck right through his neck and he collapsed.

'I have failed in my orders. Shit…' thought Akki as he turned to see where the needle had come from, his anger growing. As he saw the hunter-nin standing on the water he moved his hands to draw his katars. That is, until he saw his face. "You…" he could not think what to say.

"Yes, me. Surprised?"

"I am."

The hunter looked at Sasuke's body and said, "You seem very calm, even though I just killed your team-mate. Why is that? Silent anger? Or do you not care? Was he not a precious person?" He looked back at Akki, only to see him stare back blankly. "Well?"

"At this rate, you might well succeed in talking me to death, but there are worse deaths. Why are you taking such an interest?" Akki asked, relaxing his stance. He looked at the hunter's face and was surprised to see a sad expression on the hunter's face. "What?"

"You remind me so much of what I used to be like… Your eyes are the same…"

"My eyes? What do you mean?" 'He can't have seen my doujutsu?!'

"You don't have anyone, do you? That is why last time you told me to mind my own business, right? You do not have any precious people to give you strength."

Akki stepped back, his face paling as he tried to force down the memories, the awful memories… "And what makes you such a judge of my character? Why should my eyes be the same as yours?"

"That is because I was once like you, with no precious people, unwanted—"

"RAIKIRI!!!"

Akki turned, only to see newly formed mist on the bridge, which was, oddly, slowly dissipating. He could see Kakashi's silhouette, or at least he assumed it was Kakashi who had shouted out, as it sounded like his voice, running towards a lumpy looking one that was standing still, with a huge ball of light in its hand, or so it seemed through the mist. He noticed the hunter drop onto the bridge near him, and he heard him gasp. He turned quickly to see that his hands were moving o form a seal. He couldn't allow it.

Akki drew his katars and started to run towards the hunter. He was two metres away when he realised he would not reach him in time, and he drew his right arm back and threw his katar at his enemy. Just as the blade touched the hunter's neck, he disappeared. Akki looked back into the mist to see Kakashi's silhouette's light-ball slice through the hunter's silhouette, which slumped oddly, and then through the lumpen one that he could only assume was Zabuza.

He turned and started to walk towards Sasuke. Once he reached him he could not help but feel a touch of anticlimax. His killer was dead as well, and before the conversation was over. What would he have said if he had lived? 'Worse, if I cannot protect a team-mate, then most likely I cannot protect anyone. I am nowhere near ready to leave Konoha. Damn it all.'

He did not know how long he had been musing when he heard a crashing sound. To his right a gangplank had landed against the bridge. He looked down to the ship below, wondering how he could have missed its approach. He then noticed that Hinata and Tazuna were standing near him, the former staring at Sasuke through her activated Byakugan.

"That's Gatou's yacht," said Tazuna, nodding towards the ship. Akki looked down at it, seeing a suit wearing individual among the rough looking crowd of men.

Akki grinned. 'I did promise to myself that I would do this…' He retreated his right hand within his sleeve, and felt a kunai materialise in it from his chakra, and felt its warmth. "Tazuna-sama, you say that this bridge is the country's hope. That may well be, but I say: Death solves all problems, no man, no problem."[1

"Eh?" said Tazuna after he heard this, but before he got an answer, he saw a kunai leave Akki's hand and slice through Gatou's throat. "No man, no problem. I see…"

"And so I have protected you from future harm. Mission accomplished." Akki allowed himself a small smile as he saw the yacht move away as the thugs on board panicked.

"Ah, the light is so bright…"

"Are you alright, Sasuke-san?"

"Yes, fine, I think…"

'Sasuke's voice?' He turned to see Hinata pull the needle out of Sasuke, and could not help buy feel relieved, though not for any reason he knew. His attention was then caught by a loud burning sound, and he saw that the yacht was ablaze. He wondered what could have caused it, when he felt someone tap his shoulder. "What is it, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Don't leave the job half-finished when you kill someone, Akki-kun. If I had not got rid of them, they would most likely have attacked and raided the Wave."

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei."

"Oh, and I found this katar in the hunter-nin's neck. Is it yours."

Akki turned and looked at it, and took it from Kakashi's hand. "Doumo arigato gozaimasu."

X

X

X

A/N: This did not turn out how I wished, but I am impatient, and writer's block afflicted me. I apologise if it seems rushed towards the end.

As usual, all comments are appreciated, especially if they help to improve the story or my writing style, or give new ideas.

Jutsu list:

Kuchiyose no jutsu: Summoning technique

Kage bunshin no jutsu: Shadow Clone/Replication technique

Kawarimi no jutsu: Replacement technique

Gikochinai no jutsu: Stiffness technique

Hebi-hyouhi no jutsu: Snake skin technique

Sen'eijashu: Hidden shadow snake hands

Bunshin no jutsu: Clone/Replication technique

Jutsu shou: Technique neutralisation (Sarutobi used this in his fight against Orochimaru,

against the third Edo Tensei)

Bunshin daibakuha no jutsu: Clone great explosion technique

Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu: Fire style: Great Fireball technique

Ninpou: Kirigakure no jutsu: Ninja art: Hidden in the mist technique

Fuuton: Daitoppa: Wind style: Great breakthrough

Chikiri no jutsu: Blood mist technique

Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique

Shunshin no jutsu: Body flicker technique

Shiki Fujin: Dead Demon Consuming Seal, the seal that holds Kyubi within Naruto's body.

Raikiri: Lightning Edge

Translations:

Moushiwake arimasen is a very formal way of apologising.

Doumo arigatou gozaimashita is a very formal way of expressing thanks for a deed that has finished.

[1: Stalin quote. ;-) You cannot have any slightly sinister main character and not be tempted to put in a Stalin quote.


	4. It is none of your concern

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, etc. etc. etc..

A/N: Thanks to reviewers!

Havock: **needs more chapters**

Coming up:P

InuyashaHoujo: **Nauto doesn't seem to get any respect. Is he ever going to get the respect he deserves is my question.**

As of this moment, those most appraised of his abilities would be, in ascending order, Sasuke (annoyance, aggravation and even a little insecurity as a result), Hinata (a not inconsiderable amount of curiosity, in a general way, but not, yet, overcoming pre-existent prejudices. Hopefully this chapter will expand a bit on this) and Kakashi (who already feels as if he owes the boy something. Kakashi also, it seems to me, is not one to throw around praise. The exception seems to be canon Naruto, and that is all about improvement).

If you are referring to respect for him being a Jinchuuriki, as opposed to the image of him being the Kyubi incarnate, well, Naruto has not exactly been going out of his way to prove people wrong. Stories of his ruthlessness (1 demon brother, 2 samurai, Gatou…) will not help much either.

For both cases, the answer is 'eventually', but I have not fully sorted out the details of this. As with the rest of this fic, I have a general idea of my direction, but predominantly I make it up as I go along. However, if it is not clear I will make it so now: this is not a story where Naruto quite suddenly gets the general respect of the villagers (assuming he ever gets their respect at all).

Anything more would be spoiler material.

xan.tanuki: **No major spelling mistakes really, but you messed up on homophones like bore/boar and minor stuff like that...**

I am a student, so: sleep is the enemy! I often write this late at night/early in the morning. It is good that it is nothing serious, though.

kyunaru: **GOOD CHAPTER.**

**an idea for your how naruto meets jariya problem?**

**you could have naruto just walking around in the village or walking by the hot springs for some reason and then him hearing jariya's perverted laughter go and try to find out what it is and you could go from there i guess.**

Thanks.

I could, it is a possibility I have considered, but smacks too much of coincidence (it was coincidence in canon, so here it would be doubly coincidental). Of course, I could always get Kakashi to take the whole team to the springs as some sort of day out, but even then it is somewhat dodgy. On the other hand, Jiraiya would likely take him with him when looking for Tsunade in any case, due to Akatsuki, regardless of whether he had met him before, I think.

mortalone: **I love the story so far. Few people have reviewed, but don't be concerned by that. The more popular a story gets, the more additional crowd its capable of drawing (since it appears on favorite's lists and in c2's).**

**Actually, the thermodynamics argument you gave could not apply. Heat is energy and energy is heat. The heat we feel is nothing more than infrared spectrum photons of light that connect with our skin. So really, you must make the leap of faith that chakra can energize particles without creating heat, which is contradictory by definition.**

**An alternative argument you could use would be to cool the air (thus increasing the relative humidity since cooler air cannot retain as much moisture), but this is something Kishimoto described wind based chakra as doing.**

**Perhaps the best description would be something as vague as "gather water molecules and concentrate on spreading them through the air in a thin layer." While it lacks the complete feeling left by mixing science and fantasy in a believable way... science and ninjutsu just don't mix whatsoever. :p**

**Good story so far. I hope to see more!**

Thanks.

Well, I did not say that chakra always creates excess heat when it transfers energy. I only ever really mentioned the first law of thermodynamics, not the second. This is what I made Kakashi say:

"What you do is that you push chakra onto the water's surface, encouraging evaporation, and then force more into the vapour using nature manipulation, forming yet more water vapour, _but without any extra heat_. As you should know from your elementary thermodynamics course, this spread of the same amount of energy over a larger amount of water will cause the temperature to drop, causing the water to collect into small droplets, forming a mist."

The text in italics clearly violates the second law of thermodynamics. In fact, what this would indicate is that heat creation, while being the default result of energy transfer, is not compulsory for chakra.

Wind-based chakra: That could be read as increasing the total mass of air (let's throw mass conservation and Emc2 out of the window, shall we?), and so, again, decreasing the average temperature. :P

Well, I find that vague descriptions are boring both to read and to write. I enjoy trying to fit 'normal' science to various fantasy worlds as an exercise in futility (especially given how the law of momentum conservation is so frequently discarded in anime. Remember the Gaara vs. Lee fight? Lee was rising in the air and kicking Gaara up with him, again and again, but his kicks never caused him to start falling! ;-)). Besides, I am a Physics student; it should be expected from me. And if I _do_ do what you say, it will make Kakashi and everyone else sound like dodgy martial arts instructors (ugh!). Basically, I disagree with you. ;-).

"Boo" speech

'Boo' thought

"**Boo**" Bijuu speech

'**Boo**' Bijuu thought

x

x

x

May 20th:

The sun was high in the sky as Team 7 neared the gates of Konoha, after more than two months away in the Wave country. The heat was oppressive, easily exceeding body core temperature. This was the Fire country after all, and summer was starting.

Kakashi led the way, walking lazily on and keeping to the southern side of the road, where there was a thin strip of shade. He had removed his vest and shirt, as had his male students, wearing nothing but shorts and sandals, aside from their hitai-ate and packs. Hinata had reluctantly removed her coat a few days before and remained very self-conscious. She had been walking at the back for most of the time so that they would not look at her, but the most obvious result had been that she had no choice but to look at them, so she had been blushing all the way.

Kakashi thought to himself as he stared at the goal ahead. 'Hokage-sama will want a full briefing, not only on the mission but on Akki… Naruto… as well. I will have to explain how he has no inhibitions about killing, and where I think he got that attitude from. I will also have to explain how he strives to be the best possible weapon, and how he thinks that is his purpose. The Hokage will not be pleased.' He turned his head for a moment to look at the object of his thoughts, and then back to the gate. 'He seems more subdued than he has been for the last month, less active in his movements. Maybe he enjoyed being outside of Konoha? I should request more C-ranks that take us out of the village. It might open him up a little. At least, it could not worsen the situation.' Indeed, it could not. The boy had spoken barely thirty words to anyone that were not answers to direct questions. 'Then again,' he thought bitterly, 'weapons are never meant to talk back, and shinobi are supposed to be mere tools after all…'

Sasuke trudged slowly onwards behind his sensei, staring at the shaded ground, allowing his fringe to shade his eyes from the glare from the non-shaded areas. 'Despite having the demon in my company over the last two months, it is nothing compared to the harpies that will grope for me once we arrive, even if he _does_ steal my kills… I would _definitely_ have killed them myself.' He looked up at the gate in the distance. 'This is the West Gate that my brother was last spotted at, when he left Konoha all those years ago. When I kill him, I will put his head on a spike in the middle of this road, then no one will threaten the resurrected Uchiha clan. No one.'

Akki allowed traces of a bitter smile grace his lips as he soldiered on in the blistering heat. 'The same gate I entered five years ago, seeking shelter and access to techniques, I will enter again now, seeking shelter from the hot sun and yet more techniques to make me worthy of having precious people to protect. All in the place where I am the pariah… Damn I hate this place, but I will gladly open all the windows of my apartment, sit in the closet and open the fridge door, and the fridge will be ON!' He craned his neck as he faced the sky, eyes closed, letting the sun kiss his face, that is, until he found the burning sensation too much to bear. Looking back down to the ground he played back in his mind an old poem that he had found in the Library. 'Odi et amo. Quare id faciam, fortasse requiris? Nescio, sed fieri sentio et excrucior. (I hate and yet I love. Why do I do this, you might ask? I do not know, but I feel it happening, and I am tormented.)[1 Not so much love as a, hopefully temporary, dependence. In fact, it barely has any relation to my situation at all, given that this was written about his lover, so why did this even come into my mind? Maybe I have spent _too much_ time in the Library. Hehe…'

Hinata forced her gaze to the ground, not only to shield her eyes from the sun but also from seeing her team-mates. She had to admit to herself that the other girls were right to see something in Sasuke's looks, and Kakashi was simply something else, and with all the sweat it was easy to see some of the contours of his face through his mask, and for Akki… She stopped herself. 'I am NOT going to even allow the demon into my thoughts. No. Not at all. Not a chance. No. No!' She shook her head. 'It must be the heat,' she thought as she saw the sweat drip from her blue hair, pattering onto her toes, as they were protruding from her sandals. Her thoughts wandered over to what she would do once they had arrived. 'What will tou-san say about my performance? I wasn't really very useful on the mission. I spent most of the time just standing by Tazuna-san, watching the others fight. What will he say?'

Kakashi stopped just as they reached the edge of the clearing just in front of the gate, standing in the last spot of shade. He turned to his team, smiling at them with his one visible eye. "The Hokage will be eating either now or very soon, so I think that we might as well grab a bite to eat before we report in. Where would you like to go?"

"Ichiraku Ramen," said Akki.

"Right. Anyone else want anything different?"

Sasuke shrugged, while Hinata shook her head. He did not care, and she had always eaten what the Hyuuga cooks prepared.

"Ichiraku Ramen it is, then!" said Kakashi as he turned and continued walking, followed by his team. As the Sun's heat hit them, they quickened their pace until they were in the shade of the gate. The guards nodded at Kakashi and waved them on. They walked through the streets for a quarter of an hour until they stood outside a small ramen bar with 'Ichiraku Ramen' painted on the blinds.

Kakashi stepped in and was greeted by Teuchi. Hinata and Sasuke stepped in behind him, nodding their heads politely, with Akki coming in last. He smiled, and slowly nodded at Teuchi.

"Oh, it is you, Akki-kun! What can I get for you today?"

"Three pork miso ramen today, please, Teuchi-sama."

"Coming right up! And you, Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi was in slight shock: never before had he seen Akki smile at seeing another human being. It was surreal. The way the man had reacted was also very non-typical. However, he did not allow this to show, and answered, "I will have the same as Akki, Teuchi-san."

X

As Naruto ate his noodles in silence, savouring the taste of the broth, he turned over the image in his minds that had been disturbing him for the past month: that of Sasuke getting hit with a needle in the neck. 'If I couldn't protect him, even though he was right next to me, how would I be able to protect anyone else in any situation? I really need to improve, and that includes my body conditioning. I will have to put a stop to Hinata's spying… That is pretty much impossible, however. Gah… I suppose some things must be left to work on in more favourable conditions…

'In the meantime, though, I could stroke my ego with her presence. Yes, that would be a laugh. I _obviously_ must be watched by her because of my beautiful body!! That being the case, it is my duty to indulge her! It is the start of summer, and the temperature is much too hot to wear huge amounts of excess clothing! It will be great to see her face at non-spying times, to see if my presence jogs her memory… Hahahaha…'

"**You did notice her blush on the way, though, right?**"

'And? What does that prove?'

"**Oh, nothing, except maybe that you really **_**would**_** be indulging her!**"

'Or not. Sasuke is adored by almost the entirety of the female portion of my former academy class, as well as by a couple of the males. They would be better judges of anything than you, grease ball—'

"**I am **_**not **_**greasy—**"

'--so most likely she is, finally, getting as obsessed with Sasuke as everyone else. She is a little younger than most in my class anyway.'

"**Even so, there is some chance, isn't there? Huh? That would be good, huh?**"

'Stop trying to ruin my fun with your useless speculations! I _know_ that you crave sensation above all else, but keep _that_ out of your mind.'

"**Killjoy.**"

'Greasestain!'

"**Tramp!**'

'…'

"**Er…**"

'…'

"**Alright, alright, I apologise! That was too close to the bone, I am sorry!**"

"Damn right it was, you bastard! If you do that again, I swear that I will pretend to be insane, and we will get locked in a padded cell somewhere, and I will enjoy your pleas!'

"**Right, fine. **"

'So… what then? A miscast fire technique that burns off the back of my yukata? A training session standing on the river? Oh, the choices…'

x

x

May 21st, 15:42:

Hinata snuck through the forest towards Akki's usual training area, starting her customary hour of observing him and his seal. It was boring, but Kakashi-sensei had ordered her to do it, and she wanted there to be at least one thing she could do consistently, without failure. It was also a reasonably relaxing diversion from the tension of staying inside the Hyuuga estate. On most days, anyway.

She arrived to see Akki performing some basic stretches, as was normal. He would always start his private training in the same way: stretches, jogging, and then more stretches. Like clockwork. They had just been released from Kakashi's afternoon training, yet he always did a huge batch more after. His reserves of energy were extraordinary. He would go at everything with absolute obsession, until he was forced to stop because his body could not take it any more. She knew, she could see the effect on his muscles in real time, with her eyes. After this happened, as it always did, he would walk up to the nearest tree, and with a look of anguish, as if recalling an unpleasant memory, stab it, as far as he could at the time, with a katar. Oddly, though, whenever he did this he would let go of the katar during the strike, before impacting the tree, letting the handle rest on the palm of his splayed out, stretched back hand, kept in place by the acceleration, as if the blade was sticking out from the end of his wrist. This would, always, cause the katar's handle to tear his skin, causing him to bleed and, because he usually pushed the katar so far through the wood, the blood would mix with the sap or resin, leaving its mark semi-permanently on the tree's bark. He would then spend a while getting the blade out of the tree again. It was an odd ritual, and she had no idea of its significance, and nor did Kakashi, it seemed, who could offer no answers when she told him. She had once entertained the idea that it was extra training for his arms, but, since he only ever used his right arm, she had to discard the idea. As training it was far too unbalancing, favouring right over left. There would have to be some other motive.

At last Akki completed his stretches. 'I wonder what it will be today.' Suddenly, the boy jumped onto a tree branch, and then to another, and then another. 'Oh no… I am still tired out from Kakashi…' she thought as she started chasing after him. His pace was fantastic, and he seemed quite comfortable with it. Hinata had to give her near best to keep up and almost immediately she could feel the ache of lactic acid accumulating, and the damp of the sweat filling her summer jacket. They ran for five minutes until Akki came to a very tall and straight tree. He jumped sideways onto its trunk so that he was standing on it, and started running up the tree. Hinata took this opportunity to pause and rest a little, and took her jacket off and tied it around her waist. Panting, she watched as Akki reached the top of the tree and ran off it and into the sky. She watched in awe as he twisted in the air above the tree and dropped to a branch, grabbing it with one hand and using it as an axle to propel him to another, slightly lower, branch on the other side of the tree. He did this again and again, sometimes grabbing with his hands, otherwise with his legs, arm or feet (these times gripping with chakra), until he neared the height of the rest of the trees of the forest. He then threw himself at the trunk again, landing on it, sideways, on his feet, and then launching himself off it, dropping into the canopy of a nearby tree, and started jumping from tree to tree again.

Hinata resumed chasing when she saw this happening, stumbling a few times due to her tiredness. This continued for another half-hour, with Akki finding some other interesting feature to fool around with every few minutes or so, until Akki's black yukata had its sleeve caught by a branch, wrenching it off and sending Akki flying off to another tree, tumbling through the air. The shock, along with her tiredness and the sight of so much bare skin, was too much for her. She tripped and fell tumbling to the ground. She landed hard but unharmed, making use of her training, with Akki nowhere in sight. Bewildered, frustrated and absolutely exhausted, she let sweet sleep take her.

X

'Did you hear that? Sounds to me like a damsel-in-distress, a-collapsing in the woods. What do you think it was that overwhelmed her youthful heart?' On the outside, Naruto laughed hysterically as he kept up his run.

"**Her mother needs new silk from the market, but it cannot be found for any price?**"

Naruto's laughter increased in volume. 'Nice one!'

"**She is exhausted from rigorous training, but knows that for her noble house her efforts are in vain, she is too weak?**"

"Hahahahahahaa…"

"**She so wants to be heir, to have all those servants at her heel, but risks being passed over for a younger sibling, her brother?**"

"Hahahahahaaahahaaahhaaaahaa…"

"**If only she had an extra forty minutes at the ball, then she would have captured Prince Charming's heart? Or maybe, 'if only she had sufficient stamina to keep up with and catch up to her Akki-kun, and capture **_**his**_** heart'? That **_**would**_** be entertaining…**"

'Shut up, you grease-covered rag!'

"**It's not grease! It is hair gel! I am planning to make myself look more like Kakashi, with his incredible hair, so that you'll do what I say!**"

'Really? Then how come it looks more like you have flattened down the hair on your head through scraping the top of your cage?'

"**Arrogant human—**"

'Stupid fox—'

x

x

May 22nd:

Naruto sat on the rail of the bridge as he waited for Sasuke and Hinata to arrive. He was not training anything, which was unusual, as he wanted to see Hinata's face when she first saw him that day. 'Will she show irritation? Embarrassment? Tiredness? Will she have told Kakashi what happened yesterday and, in the likely case that she has, will Kakashi show it?'

After a few minutes of waiting, enjoying the chill of the morning mist, in contrast to the heat expected later, he heard some footsteps. He turned towards them to see Sasuke's silhouette in the mist. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Sasuke-sama."

Sasuke replied with a grunt as he walked to the other rail and sat on it. Silence reigned again for a few more minutes. As the mist began to clear, letting the Sun's rays hit the planks of the bridge deck, Akki heard the sound of soft footsteps. 'Here she comes, the princess herself, the sleeping beauty. Today, will she be the stiff princess, or will her flexibility survive even the harrows of a run through the forest? Haha…'

She walked through the centre of the bridge, in between the two boys. "Ohayou gozaimasu," she said quietly in a tired voice.

Both boys replied, "Ohayou gozaimasu." 'Tired, then. I overdid the physical exertion aspect and underdid everything else. Not surprising, though, given how quickly she succumbed to exhaustion… It did, however, give me an opportunity to exert myself more fully than normal, however, which made a good change. Maybe I should focus even more on the physical exertion side?'

Hinata stood looking at Akki for a few seconds before she sat down on the bridge deck, leaning against Sasuke's railing. She stared at him for a bit, noting his stillness, wondering what he was thinking about. She then saw him reach with his hand across his shoulder and into his pack, and pulled out a book. She could not see any title on its cover, which was of blank brown paper. It looked like an exercise book. He reached into a pocket in his shorts, underneath his yukata, and pulled out a pen, and started writing in it. She wondered about it for a moment, before leaning against the railing again to snatch as much sleep as she could.

X

X

Kakashi turned away from the memorial stone. Checking his watch, he noted that his team should have been waiting for two hours and eleven minutes. He smirked. 'Akki is probably training on the river, Sasuke will glare at me when I arrive, and Hinata will sigh in relief at seeing me.' He looked up at the sky. 'It is going to be a hot day again. Maybe I should attempt another "team-bonding session"?' He mind went back to the last time he had tried it: it had been a disaster. He had taken them to see a film before the mission in the Wave, and it had been terrible. Akki had asked to be excused fifteen minutes in, echoed by his team-mates. He had then tried to teach them Bridge, pairing Akki with Sasuke and himself with Hinata and… He shook his head. He did not want to remind himself of the horrible atmosphere there had been, that of everyone, well, Sasuke and Akki, making it clear that there were better things for them to do. 'Hopefully, since it might be too hot to train, people will be more inclined to take part…'

He jumped into the trees and went a short way until he was standing in a tree overlooking the bridge. He saw that Hinata was sleeping at the side of the bridge. He recalled finding her in the forest and waking her up, and then being told of Akki's unusual training yesterday. 'She must be totally exhausted. I probably should attempt a "team-bonding session" today.' He turned then to Akki, and stilled. 'Heh… It is amazing how he has developed physically over the last few months. He should soon look almost as mature as Sasuke… Who is at least acting normally, unlike the other two.'

"You're late," said Sasuke, who had noticed him first.

"Gomen, gomen… I couldn't find my forehead protector, so I had to look for it…"

x

They sat in a 'circle' on the grass, all facing inwards, under an oak tree. Kakashi's suggestion of Poker had not gone down well. There had been an awkward silence that continued even now, twenty minutes later. On the other hand, none of them had moved from their spots so, though they seemed to be engaging in introspection, it was promising that none of them had abandoned, or been abandoned by, the group, even Akki.

Looking at Akki, Kakashi noticed that he was clutching onto a chain in his hand and staring intensely at the bottle cap on the end, seemingly having forgotten about anyone else's existence. "What is that, Akki-kun?" he asked.

Not looking up, Akki replied, "A trinket. It is of no importance. I picked it up once." It sounded robotic, rehearsed, as if the question had been prepared for. Akki then paused, as if only now registering that a question had been asked. "I picked up the cap from the street once, and added this chain to it. That is all. I just like the drink."

"Really? You are officially an adult since you graduated, but… isn't that an odd choice? Many older people find that drink too strong for them to 'like' it, so why do you choose it?"

Akki stared at him, and Kakashi thought he could see a trace of a glare. His voice came out slow and level: "I like its pureness of purpose. It is not there to excite the gourmet, or to have as a light drink. Its purpose is to intoxicate, and do it quickly, to wipe away the memories and all inhibitions, to reduce men to a state where all that matters is to do something, or not depending on the mood, with no concern for anything else. It is a drink for those who want to forget themselves." Akki stood up, looking down at his sensei. "_That_ is why I like and drink it, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi watched as the boy made his way down to the river and sat on the bank, and then shut himself off from the rest of the world. 'A weapon fuelled and calmed by alcohol? Not really a good sign. Not at all.' "Akki, how often do you drink it?" he called.

The boy turned back to him, shouting back, "Once every few months. That is all."

Kakashi nodded. That rate could be managed. It should not be too damaging, or necessarily damaging at all, if his estimation of the Kyubi's healing powers was accurate. It was only then when he noticed the reaction of his other two team-mates. Sasuke had a look of distaste, while Hinata had a look seemingly of embarrassment. Of what, he had no idea.

X

X

June 30th:

Sasuke turned the corner of the path and walked onto the bridge that was his team's meeting place. He stepped over Hinata's body as she slept, leaning on the rail. He then stood leaning against the same rail Hinata was, looking at Akki, who was sleeping against the rail on the other side of the bridge. Sasuke scowled. 'What have they been doing over the month to make them so tired all the time? Late night training sessions? Why would she be training with _him_ of all people, anyway?' "Hmph."

'In a team with a demon, a weakling and a sensei who is lazy and always late, how am I supposed to kill aniki at this rate? All the missions, all the waiting around, it all seems to be a distraction from my training, and it is not even compensated by Kakashi's training sessions. Although… the demon seems to have been getting quite strong recently… Has he been receiving special training from someone, or has he been hiding his strength all this time? No, it must be special training. From who, though? Kakashi?'

x

"'Morning people! Today I got lost on the road of life…"

Sasuke stared at Kakashi, who was late by three hours and 27 minutes. Akki opened his eyes and stood up when he heard Kakashi's voice and, like he had for many mornings in the past month, rubbed at sore parts of his body that had been squashed against the woodwork of the bridge. Hinata, it seemed, remained oblivious.

"Sasuke, if you would…" said Kakashi when it seemed that Hinata would not wake.

Sasuke sighed as he leant down towards Hinata's form. He grabbed her shoulder and shook it, getting nothing but moans from her. Shaking it again, he finally got her eyes to open. It did not take more than a few seconds for her to realise where she was and hide her face in embarrassment. 'I fell asleep again! I was just going to sit down for a while…' she thought. She saw Akki standing in front of her, staring at her with his eyes devoid of any emotion, in his default state, the one that made her feel as if her heart and neck were being constricted. She forced the feeling down, as she had trained herself to do for months, and glared back at him as well as she normally could, which was not very well at all.

"Ahem…" came Kakashi's voice to her ear. Startled, she quickly stood up. "Ohayou!" she exclaimed when she felt everyone's eyes on her.

"Good," said Kakashi, "Now that I have everyone's attention, I have an announcement to make that really is quite important for your careers as ninja: I've nominated you guys for the chunin selection exam." He watched as Sasuke's and Hinata's eyes widened, though Akki remained impassive. He presented them with three slips of paper. "These are your applications."

They each took an application form from his hand and looked over it, before Akki asked, "Kakashi-sensei, what are the benefits to being a chunin?"

"The benefits? Well, they are, firstly," said Kakashi, numbering the listed items on his fingers, "larger salary," 'Useful to me, but I already knew about that,' thought Akki as Kakashi spoke, "access to C-rank techniques in the library," 'Useless, I already have total access to all non-secret jutsu,' "a discount at all the stores restricted to ninja (you will get a discount on kunai, shuriken, scrolls etc.)," 'Moderately useful,' "you get given a standard issue vest like mine, which you may or may not wear, which will be replaced at no cost if it is lost or damaged beyond repair," 'As small convenience if I use it,' "an increase in respect from your peers, of course," 'Not applicable,' "and finally, and most importantly, your default mission rating will be C-rank, with D-ranks very unlikely, with possibly the occasional B-rank. The obvious result of this is that you get a _lot_ more money from missions. It is at chunin rank that you start to make some real money, as opposed to the pocket money you make as genin. Also, most of these missions, though not all, will be more rewarding than the D-ranks. Are you satisfied, Akki?"

"Hai. I will weigh the advantages and disadvantages in my mind, though I will be applying anyway so I do not deny Hinata and Sasuke the chance to take the exam."

Sasuke and Hinata stared at him in confusion for a moment, before the former said, "The exam is taken in teams? Why didn't you tell us that, Kakashi?" glaring at his mentor. 'He never does go to the library, does he?' thought Akki as he repressed the urge to smirk.

"Well, I…" said Kakashi, rubbing the back of his head and neck with his right hand, "Well; it is obvious, isn't it? Being a ninja is largely about teamwork, as I have told you many times, so I thought it not worth mentioning…" He turned his one eye to Akki, as if sizing him up. 'Did he do this deliberately, to ensure he entered the exam? To quicken his ascent into the status of a weapon? Or was it unintentional?'

Sasuke looked at Hinata, thinking 'Will she or won't she? Should I speak to her?'

"This does not mean, however, that I will tolerate anyone pressuring anyone to take part. If you take part, make sure that you do it because you think you are ready and because you want to do it. Disregard what your team-mates may want, focus on making the decision you _need_ to. Those who wish to take the exam should sign those papers and turn them in to room 301 by 4pm tomorrow. Those who _wish_ to, not those who feel they _have_ to. That is all," Kakashi said, before teleporting away.

Akki started walking away and said, "Regardless, I am applying. The choice is yours, Hinata-sama, Sasuke-sama."

"I am applying as well, Akki," said Sasuke, catching Hinata's eye. "I really want to take the exam."

"Hai," said Akki, who then jumped into the trees and ran off.

Sasuke walked away from the bridge, waving behind him to Hinata, "See you tomorrow, then."

'Even if I do not apply for Sasuke's sake… and even if I do not want to apply, I have to. I am the heiress of the Hyuuga clan, I must. It is expected of me… But… Am I strong enough to survive it? Am I?'

x

x

July 1st:

Akki walked into the academy courtyard, searching for him team among the dozens of other people there. Finally he found them, near the entrance, and walked up to them. "Konichiwa," he said was he approached. 'They are both here. Good. I will now be able to assess, at least partly, whether I will be able to defend anyone from chunin level ninja, although, obviously, this test does not take into account those with no ninja training.'

"Konichiwa," replied his team-mates quietly, eyeing the rest of the crowd. Sasuke then said, "Let's go in, then. We will then have some free time, hopefully."

Hinata and Akki nodded, and followed Sasuke through the Academy doors. They walked up a couple of flights of stairs until they found a crowd of people crowded around a door with a sign above it saying "301". There seemed to be some sort of scuffle and quite a bit of shouting but, while Hinata and Sasuke stopped, Akki kept on through the corridor.

When he had got to the other side of the crowd and was about to resume his normal pace after pushing through it, he heard Sasuke say, "You will let me pass through—" and he quickly said, "Sasuke-sama, there is no need to talk to the idiots. The third floor is this way." He continued walking sedately along the corridor.

Sasuke glared at his back. 'I was going to say that you bastard!' he thought as he followed him, Hinata in tow. Meanwhile, a green-clad boy with a bowl-cut haircut watched him go. 'Uchiha Sasuke!'

X

They were walking in the direction of room 301 some time later, when a voice reached their ears, "Hey, guy with the dark eyes."

They turned to see a boy they had seen in the crowd earlier, green-clad, with a black bowl-cut haircut and, now they looked at him more closely, odd eyelashes and extremely impressive black eyebrows. He was standing on a balcony above them. "What is it?" Sasuke replied.

"Will you fight me right here?"

"A fight right now?"

"Yes." He then dropped from the balcony onto the laminated floor in front of them. "My name is Rock Lee, Uchiha Sasuke."

"Hehe, so you know?"

"I want to fight you; I want to test my techniques against the offspring of the genius ninja clan."

"Challenging me, knowing the Uchiha name… Frankly, you're a fool. You're about to learn what this name means, thick brows."

"Please…"

"Heh… Sounds fun, I'll do it," said Sasuke. He stepped forward a little, disregarding Hinata's stare towards the clock on the wall, and Akki's movement to the wall to sit and lean against it.

X

Akki closed his eyes and leant against the wall, hearing Sasuke run at Rock Lee to start the fight. 'Whatever happens, I hope it is over quickly, I hate being bored.'

He heard Lee shout "Leaf spinning wind!" and then heard some scuffling for some seconds. Then Lee again, "Yes, my techniques are neither ninjutsu nor genjutsu… Yes, my techniques are simple taijutsu, Sasuke-kun. You may not believe it, because it is so basic, but they say the sharingan has the ability to reveal all types of nin, gen and taijutsu. It is true that by reading ninjutsu and genjutsu, which need chakra to be raised and seal to be performed, you get and advantage through the sharingan, but taijutsu is a little different."

"What do you mean?" he heard Sasuke's voice ask.

"Even if you read my movements with your eyes, your body does not have the speed to react to my taijutsu. Basically, even if you can see it, if your body can't move then it's useless. Do you know this? Among strong people, there exist genius types and hardworking types." 'I am both,' thought Akki, 'though much good it has done me so far…' "If your sharingan is a genius type from the Uchiha blood, I am simply a hardworking type who has mastered only taijutsu. You could say that my ultimate taijutsu is the worst possible match up for your sharingan, and I'll prove, with this technique, that hard work surpasses genius." There was then the sound of something, 'A kunai?' thudding into the wall, and Lee said, "That is…"

"That's enough, Lee!" It was a new voice. Akki opened his eyes and looked in its direction to be blessed with the image of a tortoise wearing a hitai-ate around its neck. He then saw Sasuke falling quickly, and limply, towards the floor. He launched himself from the wall, sliding along the floor until he was under Sasuke and grabbed him when he neared the floor, cushioning the fall. He stood Sasuke up and then walked back to stand beside Hinata, ignoring the conversation between the tortoise and the 'green-clad-one', until he heard another new voice:

"TAKU! YOU GUYS ARE THE EPITOME OF YOUTH!" It was a green-clad man with a black bowl-cut haircut and even more impressive eyebrows. He was standing on the tortoise. 'Rock Lee's father? Regardless, he seems strangely familiar, but from where, I do not know.' The man grinned, and his glinted like from a toothpaste advertisement. There was some talking between the man and his look-alike student, and then he punched the latter. He then hugged him. 'Odd, but no concern of mine.'

The man then turned to them and made to smile again, until he noticed Akki staring at him with his default 'empty' stare. Noticing that his face was in mid smile, he redoubled his efforts, resulting in a smile that almost blinded Akki with the glare on it from the sunlight coming through the window. 'So this is Kakashi's team…' he thought. 'If that is the facial expression the jinchuuriki usually favours, that would probably explain why Kakashi has been in the bar so much in recent months. Apparently Asuma had to escort him home last week because he had drunk so much. More than that, he had been the only one at the bar, not even getting drunk in company. My "eternal rival" must feel more responsible for the kid than he admits. Personally, if I were in his position, I would be taking stronger stuff than just alcohol… The man is too stoic for his own good.' "You must be Kakashi's team? Yes? Make sure to do your sensei proud in the exam! You guys and Lee should head over to the classroom. My name is Maito Gai, by the way."

He threw a kunai towards the… ('Pinwheel? Interesting choice,' thought Akki) pinning Lee's bandages to the wall, knocking it out. Akki now noticed Lee's hands for the first time, and noticed how injured they were and how sore they must have been from constant stress. 'Kyuu-jichan…'

"**Nani?**"

'Arigatou.'

X

"So you are all here? Good luck, then," said Kakashi as he saw his team round the corner and walk towards the door. "It is just through here."

They nodded, and then passed through the door.

He sighed, turned to go, but then saw Gai standing in front of him. "What is it, Gai?"

"I met your team, Kakashi."

"Oh? What about them?"

"This is about the 'legacy' in particular…"

The eyebrow above Kakashi's visible eye lowered above his nose to indicate annoyance. "Yes, what of him?"

"Are you sure it is alright for you to have him as your student Kakashi? Maybe you should concentrate more on your other students, like the Uchiha? Everyone has seen you at the bar; you can't conceal the fact that something is wrong. Akki's presence is obviously not good for you—"

"It is none of your concern."

"Kakashi…" he said as he looked into his visible eye, "I just want to help. I could train him for you for a couple of months maybe, to give you a break?"

"No. Besides, it is essential that Hinata is on his team. I will not explain why."

"I could take them both—"

"_No!_" Kakashi's one visible eye glared at Gai. His stance looked ready to pounce. Gai had hit a raw nerve.

'He never wants to admit when he cannot handle something, so stubborn. But then… I am probably the same…' Gai held his hands up near his head in a placating gesture and said, "Fine, fine. My offer still stands though. I'd like to compare him to my Lee…" He then lapsed into silence, which then reigned for a couple of minutes. "Well… I'll see you later I guess. Bye!" He teleported away.

Kakashi did the same a few seconds later.

X

Akki followed his two team-mates into room 301, hearing them gasp at the same time as he saw the multitude of ninja filling the room. There was no seating room available anywhere but the floor. There was silence as his team was stared at by the crowd, especially so by the Konoha ninja when they noticed his presence. 'Woohoo! I always wanted to be the star of my own game show! Thank you, thank you, thank you…'

"**You really do have a sad sense of humour, you know.**"

'So? I enjoy it! Do not ruin my fun; I do not get it often.'

"**But that was awful! You know full well that you inflict this all on me, yet you have no consideration! At the very least you could—**"

'Shhh. Something is happening, Ino, I think.'

"Saaasuke-kun! You're late!" Ino shrieked as she jumped onto the Uchiha prodigy's back and embraced him. "I haven't seen you for a while so I've been waiting in excitement," she said, pressing the side of her face against Sasuke's, which was holding an expression of acute annoyance.

"Get away from Sasuke-kun, Ino-pig!"

"Why if it isn't Sakura… Big ugly forehead as always…" 'Great…' thought Akki, 'the harpies have assembled. At times like this, I really do pity Sasuke. Poor guy, to have to wage a war on two fronts, and one for which he has had no preparation and is defenceless, or nearly so.'

"What did you say?!" shouted back Sakura as she pounced towards Ino, with Sasuke in the way. 'Oh, this is just ridiculous. I am stopping this right now, before Sasuke becomes at risk of being hit.'

Akki stepped behind Ino and grabbed the arm she was using to hold onto Sasuke and wrenched it off him and, still holding it with his right hand, spun Ino around and crashed her into the incoming Sakura, causing them to sprawl onto the floor. "What did you do that for, you monster?!" shouted Ino as she pushed herself back up.

Walking so that he was in between Sasuke and the two girls, Akki replied calmly, "I will not allow anyone to touch my team-mates during the exam period. This is a mission, like any other." Hinata nodded behind him, while Sasuke grunted an affirmative: he really did not want to be bothered by those two.

"That's enough, Ino. So troublesome…"

Ino looked at Shikamaru before pouting and walking o her team, while Sakura was having an argument with Kiba, which mostly featured her pointing out exactly how he was inferior to Sasuke in so many ways.

Akki looked around him to see that all the rookies were here, and started checking them off a list I his head. 'Nara Shikamaru: decent enough, too busy sleeping or complaining to bother me, normally. His clan uses techniques using shadows, most famously for disabling people. Akimichi Choji: too busy eating to bother me. His clan uses techniques that increase their size. Not at all subtle. Yamanaka Ino: One half of the harpies. Vain idiot. Her family is supposed to have techniques to do with mind reading and similar things.'

He turned to Sakura's team. 'Haruno Sakura: The other half of the harpies. No known skills of significance. Is probably carried by the rest of her team, who are both competent. Inuzaka Kiba: One of the bigger bullies. Impulsive, but has strength and a dog. His clan uses dogs, who'd have thought? Aburame Shino: Quiet. Nothing known, except that his clan uses kikai bugs, which feed off chakra, and are reputed to be very dangerous.' He ignored the inane chatter of the other rookies.

That is, until he heard someone call over to them from his right. "Hey, you guys, you should be quieter." It was a spectacled man with grey hair in a pony-tail. He was wearing and odd cream sash around his waist, but the rest of his clothing was completely standard. "You guys are rookies just out of the Academy, right? Screaming like school girls, taku… This isn't a picnic."

"Who do you think you are?" asked an annoyed looking Ino, still angry at her treatment from Akki.

"I'm Kabuto, but instead of that, look behind you."

"Behind?" said Sakura as they all looked behind her. There was a group or Rain nin glaring at them, surrounded by more people doing the same.

"Those guys behind you are from the hidden rain. They have short tempers. Everyone is nervous about the exam, so quieten down before you cause a scene… Well, I can't blame you: you're clueless rookies. You remind me of how I used to be."

"Kabuto-san, right?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah."

"So this is your second time?"

"Nope… My seventh time. This exam is held twice a year, so this is my fourth year."

"Wow, so you know a lot about the exam?"

"That's right," replied Kabuto. 'He certainly knows a lot about failing the exam,' thought Akki, 'but he might have some useful information.'

"How come you have failed so many times, then?" asked Kiba in a jeering voice.

"Well, the exam is quite hard. Tell you what, to give you an idea, I'll share some info with you _cute_ rookies," he said, looking into Kiba's eyes as he emphasised the word 'cute', "with these nin-info cards."

"Nin-info cards?" asked Sakura, speaking yet again. 'Seriously, am I the only one who goes to the library?' thought Akki in annoyance.

"They are basically cards which have info burned onto them with chakra. I have four year's worth of info here, over 200 cards. They look blank but to open the info on these cards…" he said, pushing chakra into one.

"What are you doing?" asked Choji, finally distracted from his crisp packet.

"You can't view them unless I use my chakra, for example…" He placed the card onto the ground, revealing it to be a map of the surrounding countries, hologramatic bars rising from it to indicate the number of applicants to the chunin exam from each country. 'How did he get this information at such short notice?' thought Akki curiously.

"Wow, a really easy to read graph. What kind of info is this?" asked Choji.

"This is the number of those taking the exam and the breakdown of what country they are from," said Kabuto.

"Do you have cards with info on individuals?" asked Sasuke.

"Hehe… There are some guys you are worried about?" Kabuto picked up his stack of cards again, placing the graph card back in it after clearing it. "Of course, the info on all of this exam's participants isn't perfect but I do have it." 'Which beggars belief,' thought Akki, 'unless you have somehow gained access to something genin shouldn't. I know, I have tried, and it cannot be accessed legally. Not my concern, though.' "Even of you guys. Say something about these guys and I'll take a look."

"Rock Lee and…" Sasuke turned to look at Akki, "Akuma-Gaki Akki, both of the leaf." When he heard this, Akki started moving closer, towards a spot where he would be just behind Sasuke.

"Oh, you know their names. Should be easy then." He riffled through the deck and then brought out one card.

"Who's is that?"

"Rock Lee's. I could not find the other one. We can search again later."

"Show me."

"OK. He's a year older than you guys. Mission history: D-rank: 20 completed, C-rank: 12 completed. His sensei is Gai. His taijutsu has improved greatly in this year, the rest is nothing impressive. Last year he gained attention as a talented new genin, but he did not participate in the exam. Like you guys, this is his first time. On his team are Hyuuga Neji and Tenten…"

"And Akki?"

"Like I said, I could not find it when searching just for names. I will try a full search for it now." He riffled through the cards again at lightning speed, before he held another card in front of him. "Let's see… name is Uzu—"

He stopped speaking because a hand had swiped the card out of his. Akki was holding the card and reading it with a glare. 'Nothing on there of importance except my name. I wonder how much of it he saw. Regardless, even if he does know, I will remove it from the card.' Using his fingernail, he quickly scraped off his name, and then, after taking out a pen, wrote in its stead 'Akuma-Gaki Akki'. He then tossed it back to an astonished looking Kabuto, who caught it quickly.

"Er… Right. Er… it says 'non-name: Akuma-Gaki Akki'. Let's see… Wow, 200 D-rank missions in such a short time! It should be impossible. Perhaps it is a misprint and it means 20? Even so, it is a lot for a rookie. And… what is this? An A-rank that has been upgraded from a C-rank? Remarkable. Notes: 'Container for the Kyuubi no Yoko, arguably a demon as a result. Consequently, he possesses rapid healing ability and, potentially, access to the Kyuubi's chakra, though it is not known whether that has happened. Graduated as the dead last of his year, only passing the initial exam due to intervention from the Sandaime himself. Was missing from Konoha for a full year between the ages of six and seven. What happened during this period is unknown. Treats most other people as social superiors. No known social network outside his team.' And then some more stuff, a lot of notes actually. And his skills… it looks like they are all below genin level. Not much else."

"Arigato," said Sasuke. 'The information is obviously out of date, but interesting nonetheless. Arguably? I thought it was a certainty. Missing for a year? What the hell happened then, and why would they let a demon loose for a year? And why do they not know what went on in the meantime? And what was that about his name? Uzu-something? Why does he want to keep it a secret? When he said he had no name, I took it literally…'

Suddenly, there was a 'bang' noise and a large puff of smoke at the front of the room, in front of the blackboard. A group of people had arrived, all in a uniform, with exception of the one who seemed to be the leader. He was wearing a black leather trench-coat and a hitai-ate that covered his whole scalp, and had scars across his face. After looking about the room a bit, he said, "Thanks for waiting. I am Morino Ibiki, the examiner for the chunin selection exam's first test. You are to obey me absolutely while the exam is in progress. We will now start the first test in the chunin exam. Instead of your current seating arrangements, you will pick one of these tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you. We will then hand out the exams."

X

After everyone had picked a tab for their seats, Akki found himself, by coincidence, next to Hinata. 'Obviously they should have thought up a better system, like assigning us numbers and ordering the places in advance,' he thought. She seemed to be blushing slightly from the proximity, and he was still uncomfortable with sitting this close to _anyone_.

"Do not turn your tests over," said Ibiki, at the front of the room by the blackboard, holding a piece of chalk. "Listen closely to what I am about to say." He started to write, saying out loud what he wrote down, or near so, "There are many important rules to this first test. I'll write it on the board while I explain, but questions will not be allowed, so listen carefully. The first rule. You guys will all start off with ten points. The test is made up ten questions and each one is worth a point, but this test uses a subtraction system. Basically, if you answer all the questions correctly, you keep your ten points, but, say, if you miss three questions, you lose three points and will have seven. The second rule: this is a team test. Whether you pass or not will be determined by the combined score of your team-mates. So, each team will compete to see how many points they can hold on to from the initial team total of 30. And now the most important rule: the third rule is that, during the exam, anyone caught by the testing officers doing sneaky activities, namely cheating, will have two points subtracted for every offence. So there will be some who will lose all their points during the exam and be asked to leave."

"We'll have our eyes on you guys," said one of the examiners. The others chuckled.

"Realise that the pathetic ones that get caught cheating will be destroying themselves. As shinobi trying to achieve the level of chunin, be proud ninja. And then we have the final rule… Those that lose all their points during the test and those that don't answer any questions correctly will be failed along with their two team-mates."

'_Now_ it becomes interesting,' thought Akki. 'The rules are, altogether, a little odd though.'

"The exam will last one hour. BEGIN!"

x

x

x

A/N: Next time on Demon-Kid: Chunin-Shiken! What will happen to our heroes when they are attacked by the sinister Orochimaru? Will Sasuke escape his bite? Will Akki protect his team-mates? Will Hinata fall for our hero and so justify her presence in this fic? Will I stop doing this annoying parody at the end of each chapter? Find out next time, folks!

Jutsu list:

Kuchiyose no jutsu: Summoning technique

Kage bunshin no jutsu: Shadow Clone/Replication technique

Kawarimi no jutsu: Replacement technique

Gikochinai no jutsu: Stiffness technique

Hebi-hyouhi no jutsu: Snake skin technique

Sen'eijashu: Hidden shadow snake hands

Bunshin no jutsu: Clone/Replication technique

Jutsu shou: Technique neutralisation (Sarutobi used this in his fight against Orochimaru, against the third Edo Tensei)

Bunshin daibakuha no jutsu: Clone great explosion technique

Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu: Fire style: Great Fireball technique

Ninpou: Kirigakure no jutsu: Ninja art: Hidden in the mist technique

Fuuton: Daitoppa: Wind style: Great breakthrough

Chikiri no jutsu: Blood mist technique

Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique

Shunshin no jutsu: Body flicker technique

Shiki Fujin: Dead Demon Consuming Seal, the seal that holds Kyubi within Naruto's body.

Raikiri: Lightning Edge

Translations:

Moushiwake arimasen is a very formal way of apologising.

Doumo arigatou gozaimashita is a very formal way of expressing thanks for a deed that has finished.

[1: Catullus 85. Very famous poem in Latin. Wasted weeks in school learning it, might as well use it. ;-)


	5. That was a scream, you idiot!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, etc. etc. etc..

A/N: (Insert witty comment here).

Also: WARNING: potentially disturbing content about half-way down. Perhaps 'very vivid' would suffice as a warning? And, no, it is necessary, it is important.

And, if it is not 'very vivid', then I must be overestimating either the imaginative power of my readers or, more likely, my descriptive abilities, or indeed both, but I tried, because, again, it is important.

Replies to reviews are in my forums!

"Boo" speech

'Boo' thought

"**Boo**" Bijuu speech

'**Boo**' Bijuu thought

x

x

x

Akki turned over his exam paper and looked at the first question. 'A cipher, hmmm? It looks pretty simple…' He looked over the symbols stacked in front of him. 'Chi, ni, su, ka, ri, za, bi… This cipher uses a non-typical order… Aha… Hmmm… It is a summary of the foundation of the Fire country by the first Daimyo… Cute. Now for question two…'

He looked at the second question and its diagram. '"Line B, seen in the picture, is the greatest possible distance a shinobi can throw his shuriken from a tree of 7 metres," that means it is approximately twenty metres, assuming the diagram is to scale, "For enemies who appear within the circumference of the shuriken's range, explain the attack options using this distance. Show your work." Interesting questions, much better than the ones at the academy! Hmmm… training with kage bunshin is very useful. The most obvious option is this, because… and then… and then this, though probability of success is low.'

He went through the rest of the questions during the next few minutes in a calm and relaxed way, until he got to question 10. 'This question will be revealed 45 minutes after the test begins, listen to the examiner closely before answering? What is this? I now have nothing to do for…' he looked at the clock, '37 minutes. Are they trying to drive people to the brink of insanity? Tedious. The remaining time will be totally tedious most likely.' He looked up, leaning on his left hand, with his left elbow on the desk, his paper clearly visible to Hinata, beside him.

She looked with amazement, out of the corner of her eye, at the completed paper in front of her demonic team-mate. 'Amazing! He has completed the paper, and the dummy examinee hasn't finished writing down the answer to the 8th question yet… Though his paper does look a bit bare, as if he prefers to put down the answers and then explain a little, than to put down his working as he does it. Does he not realise that we are supposed to cheat? I had no idea that Akki would be so smart…' As she said this, another voice, her Akki-only voice, said, 'Do you not think it odd that you are praising a demon who has killed thousands of people, at least? Of course he is intelligent? How else do you think it has stopped itself from being destroyed?' 'It is still impressive, though…' 'Pfft.'

Akki turned his head to his left, looking at the examiners as they looked for cheaters. He saw one of them note something down, presumably an instance of cheating, and then just carry on as if nothing of significance has happened. 'Why are they treating this cheating as if it was no big deal? Is it not supposed to be against the rules? Are they assuming that people will cheat? The points system is also pretty lenient… Have I missed the point of the test? Why would they encourage cheating on such an easy test? Is the tenth question especially hard, so it requires cheating? But there are other questions, so unless you have to get a perfect score, the tenth question is not so important, whatever it is, unless it is special in some way. I don't understand…'

He turned his head back to his paper, and looked at Hinata through the corner of his right eye. She seemed to blush, as if she knew he was looking at her, though she was facing her paper, as if deep in thought. 'Byakugan! That is it! She can see me looking at her due to the byakugan, and she is using that to cheat! But why is she cheating when the questions are so simple? Or am I the only one who finds them simple? And why is she not cheating from me? Is there some official answer giver that you have to find?'

A few minutes later it seemed that most people had finished copying the answers from somewhere, including, crucially, Hinata and the other Hyuuga that was sitting a couple of rows in front. 'Right. Now.' He extended his 361 chakra 'tails' to their full length, which was now sufficient to cover the entire room, over twice the radius as just two months ago. He sent them to search for all the exam papers, with the exception of two, one each, that touched the eyes of Hinata and the other Hyuuga in the room and that would alert him if they activated their eyes. As the 'tails' tasted the graphite and ink on other people's papers, he started checking his answers against those most commonly given by others. '1… check. 2. Yep. 3. Yep. 4, 5, 6, 7, check. 8… well, theirs is less accurate. How lazy are they? Did it not matter what the answers were? 9, check. Now just to wait for question 10. I'm good! Haha…' He retracted his tails again, for the sake of keeping his secret safe in case of the unforeseen.

X

Akki dozed, his head on the desk, on top of his paper, facing towards Hinata, because, while she had a sweet scent, the boy to his left stank a bit. Hinata tried her best to ignore his presence, but to no avail. He looked so peaceful and contented as he slept, the latter, at least, being a marked contrast to his awake expression. It was difficult to ignore. Thankfully for her, she had finished copying down all the answers before he had gone to sleep. '_Arguably_ a demon?' she thought. 'And, according to the card, it would seem that he once _did_ have a name. Uzu… I wonder why he hides it?'

She looked behind her to look at Sasuke. He sat a few rows back with a bored expression on his face. 'He is fine then.' She turned her head forward again and looked at the chief examiner, Morino Ibiki, who seemed lost in thought. Her eyes moved up to the clock above him. 'Just a couple of minutes until the tenth question…' She turned her heard back to look at Akki, who remained oblivious. 'I should wake him up if we are going to pass…' She moved her hand towards his face, but hesitated before she touched him. She drew her hand back and leant her body away from him a bit, and brought her hand towards his right shoulder. She applied pressure as she touched it, beginning the shaking manoeuvre.

X

_He was being chased. He was exhilarated, but not sensing any danger. He heard the clatter of footsteps behind him as his three pursuers increased their pace. He turned a corner, entering the market place. He dodged the dogs that guarded some of the produce and turned into another alley. The sunlight was absent here, replaced by a reddish glow as the light had bounced off multiple redbrick patches of wall before getting this low down, as the buildings were so tall. He felt the mud from the recent rains squelch beneath his feet and spatter onto his bare legs. Up ahead was an intersection between the four buildings that made up the tax office. He turned right and ran down the alley towards another intersection._

_As he passed into the intersection he was tackled to the ground by another boy his age, who grabbed the bottle cap he was holding from his hand and danced around a bit in the alley gloating over his victory. He had dirty brown hair and green eyes, and was wearing a pair of dungarees._

"_Shinji, that was mean..." said another boy, Kenshin, as he walked into the intersection. His hair was black, and he had brown eyes, and was wearing a white (well, originally white, it was now just many hues of brown stain) shirt and black shorts. "You were only supposed to tap him..."_

"_You aren't hurt, right, Naruto?" asked Shinji._

_He saw his arms wipe some mud off his shorts, and then push himself up. "No, but I want my bottle cap back. Give it to me!"_

"_But it is pretty..."_

"_It is mine!"_

"_Give it back to him, Shinji," said a new, but familiar, voice, "I gave the bottle cap to him, not you. Give it back." Kisuke walked into the intersection. He was red haired with hazel eyes, and wore tattered trousers and an old coat._

"_Fine, I never wanted the stupid thing anyway..." said Shinji tossing the bottle cap back to him. He put it back in his shorts pocket._

"_Hey, guys..." said Kenshin, grinning, "I heard that there was this dog acting weird. It is supposed to be under the Mill Bridge. Shall we go see?"_

"_You bet!" the other three replied. They then ran off in the direction of the bridge, Naruto in the back, still a little sore from Shinji tackling him, causing him to run slower than he otherwise would._

_A few seconds into the run, he felt a pressure on his right shoulder slowly appear. 'I don't remember this...' He then felt his automatic response kick in. 'Oh shit!'_

He was awakened by a scream of pain from his right. It was Hinata. He opened his eyes to see that a bone spike coming from his shoulder had impaled her right hand in the palm between the middle and ring fingers. It was a disgusting sight, seeing the way the bones in her hand had been pushed aside by the spike. He quickly retracted the spike, and he saw the pain on Hinata's face as the spike scraped against her bones, and he felt her warm blood trickle down his arm.

Ignoring the stares and commotion around him, he grabbed her hand with his left, pressing it tighter against his shoulder to staunch the blood flow, ignoring her moan of pain. Carefully, with his right hand, he reached into his hip pouch and pulled out a roll of bandages and some cotton wool. Quickly taking her hand off his shoulder, he placed a patch of cotton wool in her palm, then another on the back of her hand, and wrapped the bandages tightly around her hand and the cotton wool. He then let go of her hand, and wiped the blood on his hands onto his yukata, which now had a hole on its right shoulder.

Ibiki had watched in fascination as a bone spike had protruded from the boy's shoulder, who seemed to have been asleep, for some reason. He had watched with quite a bit of sympathy as the spike had been retracted through the poor girl's hand. He had watched, approvingly, when the boy had quickly bandaged up the hand. He had watched with a little bit of disbelief when he saw the boy's face. It was the Kyubi's container, the one he had not been allowed to interrogate. He then felt anger at the noise that this episode had caused. "SILENCE!" he shouted, in the same voice he would use in interrogations. The genins obeyed.

"What was that white spike?" he asked Akki, glaring at him.

The jinchuuriki stared at him with his normal expression and answered, "Accidentally triggered defensive technique, Ibiki-sama."

"I see…" Ibiki replied, in a way that clearly indicated his disbelief. "Right, now that we have done with this little drama, we will start the tenth question." The people waited quietly to carry on, with the exception of Hinata, who was whimpering slightly. Ibiki waited for her to recover. When satisfied that he would not be interrupted, he carried on, "Now, before we get to it, I'd like to go over the added rules for this question." At this most of the room showed surprise. Suddenly, a genin wearing a black overall and odd headgear, with a painted face, came in followed by an examiner. 'Another interruption?!' "Heh… Nice timing… Was your doll playing beneficial? Just shit down." The boy went quickly to his seat, passing by a blonde kunoichi.

"If there are to be no more interruptions, I'll now explain. These are the rules of desperation… First, for this thenth question, you must decide whether you will take it or not."

"Choose?! What happens if we choose not to?!" asked the blonde kunoichi from earlier.

"If you choose not to, your points will be reduced to zero, you fail, along with your two team-mates."

"What does that mean?!" asked a genin.

"Then of course we will decide to take the question!" shouted another.

"And now, the other rule: if you choose to take it, and answer incorrectly, that person will lose the right to ever take the chunin selection exam again."

"What kind of stupid rule is that?!" shouted Kiba, Akamaru barking as he shouted, "There are guys here who have taken the exam before!"

"Hehe… hehehehehe… You guys were unlucky. This year it's my rules, but I am giving you a way out. Those that aren't confident can choose not to take it, and try again next year." He waited a bit, feeling the tense atmosphere he had created. "Now, let's begin… the tenth question. Those that do not wish to take it, raise your hand. Once your number is confirmed, leave."

'Catch 22,' thought Akki. 'Artfully done. Fortunately for me, I have no real interest in becoming a chunin, beyond the extra cash, so even if I am wrong about him not being able to enforce who gets to take the exam in future years, especially when it comes to foreigners, and for some reason get the question wrong, assuming there is one, it is no real loss… Besides,' he thought, turning his eyes to Hinata's bandaged hand, 'I have more pressing issues to consider. How do I explain this away, or should I just tell them about the Shikotsumyaku? This has got to be the biggest cock-up so far…' He mused for a few moments as people around him quit the exam. 'I will try explaining it away first. Even if Kakashi, Sarutobi and all the jounins disbelieve me, there is a chance that they will leave me to it. We are expected to keep things secret, and that might outweigh the paranoia about me. If not, well, how could it be worse than if I told them flat out anyway?'

Hinata was troubled. Her hand hurt like the fires of hell, and being forced to be a genin forever would simply destroy her in the eyes of her family. 'Then again,' she thought, 'father would despise me even more for simply giving up. Would being a genin forever be better or worse than giving up now?'

The time ticked away. In a silence broken only by the resignations and the calls of the examiners, the sound of the clock was as intrusive as it was menacing, or monotonous in Akki's case. The genin were quitting left right and centre, until there were only 32 left. One more team then quit, leaving just 29 people. '29?' Akki thought, 'There is a team of two? Or were they the source?'

"Good decisions. Now, to everyone still remaining…" 'Oh, no!' Hinata thought, 'I haven't been able to decide yet!' "I congratulate you on passing the first test!" 'Nani?? I pass? But… What?' "To the twenty-seven of you with the guts to remain, congratulations on passing the first test!"

"Wait, what do you mean? We already pass?" asked a voice, "What about the tenth question?" 'Sweet harpy Sakura,' thought Akki, feeling the Kyubi smirk, 'always asking questions… Isn't the answer painfully obvious?'

"There never was such a thing," Ibiki said, grinning at them all. 'He smiles? I thought he never would!' thought Akki.

"**Or, at least, only if after having just beaten someone senseless. Though, with those scars, it looks like the same has been done to him plenty of times.**"

'Exactly! Just shows us that we are bad judges of character, heh?' "Or you could say that those two choices _were_ the tenth question."

"Hey, then what were the first nine questions for?! They were pointless then?!" shouted the blonde kunoichi from the Sand.

"They were not pointless, they had already served their intended purpose."

"Hn?"

"To test your individual information gathering ability. That purpose." 'Yep, I missed it. How dull am I?'

"**Were you asking me, Mr. High-And-Mighty?**"

'No, piss off!'

"Information gathering?" 'Well, I suppose I cannot, in fairness, criticise…'

"First, as the rules explained, success on this test is based on the whole team doing well. This puts pressure on each member not to mess things up for their team-mates." 'I did not even consider that! This guy is scary…' "But the questions on this test were not the types that a mere genin could answer." 'Why not?' "Because of that, I'm sure most of the people came to the same conclusion, that to score points one will have to cheat. Basically, the premise of this test is to cheat. As cheating targets we had two or so chunin who knew all the answers mixed into the crowd to help you guys out." 'Yes, they were the source.' "But those that cheat poorly fail, of course."

He reached to his head and grabbed his cloth covering, the one attached to his hitai-ate. He pulled it off to reveal his badly scarred head. It looked like someone had made various attempts to drill his brain out of his skull. He then carried on talking, "Because… in times, information is more important than life and, on missions and the battlefield, people risk their lives to get their hands on it." After a pause, he placed his head covering back on. "If the enemy or third part notices you, there is no guarantee the info will be accurate… I want you to remember this. Important information in your hands can be a powerful weapon for your comrades and for the village, so we had you gather information through cheating. This clearly separated those that do not have the right abilities." 'Meh.'

"But…" said the Sand kunoichi again, "I don't understand the final question…"

Ibiki smiled again. "But… question ten… is the true purpose of this test."

"What do you mean?" asked Sakura.

"Let me explain. The tenth question, the 'take it' or 'not take it' decision… Obviously these were painful choices. Those who would choose the latter fail along with their team-mates. Those who choose to take it could loose the chance to ever take the test again. A true leap of faith..." He paused again, and then raised his voice again, "How about these two choices, say you guys become chunin. Your mission is to steal a secret document. The amount of ninja, their abilities, etc. is unknown to you, and of course there could be traps set all around you. Now, do you accept, or not accept? Because you don't want to die, because you don't want your comrades hurt, can you avoid the dangerous mission? The answer is NO! No matter what the danger, there are missions you can't avoid. The ability to be courageous and survive any hardship, this is the ability needed to become a chunin captain. Those who can't put their destinies on the line, who cling to the uncertain future of 'There's always next year' and then walk away from their chance, those pieces of trash who can only make such cowardly choices, don't have the right to become a chunin; that's how I feel! Those who choose to take it answered the tough tenth question correctly. You will be able to survive any troubled you face in the future. You have made it through the entrance, the first test of the chunin selection exam is now finished. I wish you guys luck."

'Finally… over…' Akki mumbled in his mind. 'Worth listening to, but I am glad he didn't speak any longer…'

Suddenly, there was a crash and the sound of glass shards tinkling on the floor as a large, black, human-sized ball smashed through one of the windows. It then unfolded to reveal a woman who was throwing two kunai at the ceiling to spread the black sheet of cloth across the wall while still twisting in the air, but for her one foot that was on the ground. Then he saw… 'Fuck! It's that crazy woman again!'

"You guys! This is no time to be celebrating!" she shouted, "I am the examiner for the second test, Mitarashi Anko! Now let's go! Follow me!"

There was silence.

Ibiki sidled from behind the cloth screen and said, "Bad timing…"

"Pffft." She looked around the room as if counting everyone in there. "Twenty-seven? Just nine teams this year, Ibiki? Are you trying to make everybody else's tests boring, Ibiki? There is no chance of a decent battle royale this year… Wait…" she froze, as if she had just remembered something, "It's you!" she shouted, pointing towards Akki.

"Hai, Anko-sama."

"You nearly killed my summon, you little shit! Manda is furious! Do you know how much trouble you have caused me?!"

"Moushiwake arimasen, Anko-sama, but you seemed to be trying to kill me." He suddenly felt that dozens of eyes were burning into him from all directions. 'Hehe… if this is awe, I like it… though, now, I might have to accelerate my timetable.'

Sasuke stared at his team-mate. 'He nearly killed a summon when a jounin was trying to kill him? Since when has he been this strong?' He felt the anger rise up to his throat, and his face twitched.

Ibiki looked at the kid who had answered back as if he had been scolded for kicking a puppy. 'Well, this day has certainly been interesting. I have the Kyubi's vessel in my test, he injures someone, apparently by accident, and it now turns out that he nearly killed a summon, by the sounds of it a not insignificant one.'

Hinata thought, 'Akki is scary… and strong, so why does he act as he does?' She heard again Kabuto's voice: _"Arguably a demon."_ 'And what was that bony spike thing? Is it an original jutsu? Is he that good? Uzu…'

Gaara looked wide-eyed at him, feeling the Shukaku inside stir. 'He's… strong… I will have him confirm my existence…'

"Hehe…" chuckled Anko, "we finally have a demon to fight in the chunin exam. You had better make it fun, Akki-kun!" She grinned, and licked her lips.

"Hai."

Kankurou and Temari stared at him this time: 'Demon? Does that mean…?'

"Well, now that we have so few examinees, I wonder how many will be left for the third test, as at least half of them will go."

Most of them stared in alarm. They would be cut at least in half, just after having been so reduced by Ibiki?

"I'll explain everything once we've changed places. You will meet me outside the Academy at ten hundred and then follow me to the second exam area."

X

As he was picking up the exam papers for study, Ibiki came across two that were spattered with blood, as well as their surroundings. 'Oh yes, that incident.' He picked them up. 'Wait, there is something a little different about one of them…' He looked again at a paper, noting that it was Akki's. 'These aren't the answers we gave, though they all seem to be correct. He did them all himself? And what's this?' He looked at a small note written on the bottom of the paper. 'That's the Cyrillic writing system! Let's see… Novgorodian language… it says… "Questions too easy. I am bored. I wonder if anyone will understand this note? Will sleep until question ten." Hehehe…'

X

X

As the sun started to set, Hinata walked towards the bridge where team 7 usually met. Her left hand ached whenever she tried to use it, but she had been told that it would pass, and that there would be no permanent scarring, by the medics that had healed it for her. It still amazed her how paranoid someone would have to be to have such a dangerous automatic technique, and how careless to have it active at a place where many people could touch you accidentally. 'He obviously couldn't give a damn about anyone else's wellbeing, but that begs the question: why is he doing all this, trying to become a ninja, a chunin?'

She mused some more about him as she leant over the rail of the bridge and stared at the water below. Staring back at her was her reflection. 'The other outcast, that is me,' she thought, bitterly, her soft persona driven away by the ache in her hand and her earlier thoughts. A well of self-pity rose up from the depths of her mind, normally repressed, but with little else to distract her from it. 'There is the face of a girl for whom there are no expectations, no praise, no friends, nothing but an abject _failure_, despised by all those who care.' She watched the image morph as her face changed to reflect her state of mind, staring at her blankly. 'That face looks familiar, and not in the most obvious way…'

She suddenly had the sensation that someone had smashed her heart with a hammer while trying to garrotte her with thick rope. She stepped away from the rail quickly and breathed deeply. She hadn't seen it; it had just been an illusion…

"I thought you'd come. I heard what happened today. Care to give me the details?"

She spun around to face Kakashi. He was smiling at her with his eye, though, this time, it seemed a rather weak one. She speculated for a few moments about what could have put Kakashi in a bad mood, and how long he might have bee there, and then, giving up, said, "Hai…"

She explained to him in the best detail she could the events that caused her to have to have her hand fixed, down to the texture of the white spike, and extending to Akki's explanation.

Kakashi was silent for a few moments after she had finished talking, and looked puzzled, or at least as much as that is possible for someone in a mask. "It seems Akki-kun possesses an ability that should have been made extinct several years ago…"

"Oh? What is that?"

"The spike. It was made of bone, unless I am mistaken. I have only ever seen that once before, on a mission to the Water country, which then, as now, was in a civil war. This is the bloodline limit of the now extinct Kaguya clan of the Water country, and is called the Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse). It has been described by some as the most horrifying bloodline limit in the world, in terms of what it can do to an opponent's body, but I have not seen enough of it to comment on that. It allows the people who possess it to modify their skeletal structure at will, by adding more bones, changing the shape of existing bones etc.. The two most obvious effects are this: it makes them almost unkillable, as, if you strike them, that area can grow a spike or a protective bone shell, and the spikes are used as melee weapons that connect to the user's body. This would probably explain why Akki likes to use katars in close combat."

"Does this mean that Akki is related to the Kaguya clan?"

"It is unlikely. The clan has never been known to have members outside of the Water country. The bloodline limit was very rare even within the clan, so they had a policy of deliberate inbreeding in order to increase the chances of the bloodline surfacing again. Unfortunately, this resulted in most of the possessors of the bloodline limit being insane, so they tended to be locked up until they were needed in battle, as well as having various genetic diseases. Akki possesses neither of these traits to my knowledge."

"I see… but why did he impale my hand so suddenly, and then so quickly bandage it? That is not exactly normal behaviour…"

"Well… it is quite possible that he views any attempt to touch him as a threat of attack," replied Kakashi, his voice carrying a hint of pain, "Surely you have noticed how uncomfortable he looks whenever he is within a metre of anybody else? How, when we are sat down as a group, he always moves a little away if he can? What happened to your hand is most likely an automatic response to a perceived threat; a learned behaviour, from an environment of, at times, almost constant threat. That is my best guess."

"H-Hai."

"Well, then, I must be going…" he said, smiling at her, genuinely this time.

"D-Demo…"

"Hn?"

"There was this p-person at the exam called Kabuto…"

"And?"

She went on to describe exactly the sequence of events involving Kabuto and his information cards. Kakashi's disinterested demeanour changed into one of concern. "Are you sure that he was called Kabuto?" he asked her.

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei."

"I see." 'That information is confidential and comes from the Hokage's personal records. This is bad. I must inform Hokage-sama immediately.' "Well, I am afraid that now I _really_ must be going, Hinata-chan…"

"J-Just t-two more questions, p-please!"

"What, then?"

"What did Kabuto mean by saying that Akki was _arguably_ a demon?"

"Oh, that? Simple. Some people argue that he is a demon, _and they are wrong_. There have been many jinchuuriki in the past and, while many have shown mental illnesses, most likely due to ill-treatment, there is nothing to indicate that they were themselves demonic in nature."

"What is a jinchuuriki?"

"What is it? Akki is one. They are people who have demons locked inside of them, which, so far, has always required someone's death to perform, which is why the Yondaime died. It is for that reason they are called Powers of Human Sacrifice. And for your second (or should I say third?) question?" Kakashi sounded impatient, which unnerved Hinata bit, but she carried on.

"A-Ano… what is Akki's real name? Uzu-something?"

Kakashi looked at her strangely, almost as if she was asking a stupid question, and then his anger started rising. "Why do you want to know his name? To find his records? To boast that you know the 'demon's' name? To spread his name around when he has tried his best to keep it private?! No… I will not give you his name."

"D-Demo… I am j-just c-curious…"

"Then be _polite_ and ask _him_, rather than third parties." With that, he disappeared from her sight.

She stood there in a state of shock: she had never had Kakashi speak to her in such a tone of agitation before, or indeed to anyone. 'What, it's just a name, isn't it?'

X

X

"Shuyo (soy sauce) ramen with naruto, if you please, Teuchi-sama."

Teuchi quirked his right brow at him, but nodded. Ayame remained oblivious, and carried out her duties. A few minutes later a steaming bowl of ramen was in front of him, the white naruto dotted about on the dark soy sauce. (A/N: naruto is a fishcake that often comes with ramen that has a spiral pattern on it.) He picked up a piece of naruto in his chopsticks and submerged it in the sauce, allowing it to absorb the sauce between all the little fibres, before placing it daintily in his mouth.

Feeling salty streaks of soy flow across his tongue, Naruto thought back to the disaster earlier in the day. 'Perhaps, I really am a demon, metaphorically. That was, what? Second time in my life I have seriously harmed someone largely innocent of doing anything bad to me or those I am to protect, and at the time my two thought processes were: 1. "clear up the mess as fast as possible" and 2. "how the fuck do I get out of this one?" Not a thought beyond preventing additional damage and thinking up a, rather poor in retrospect, excuse. Not even an apology, nor even any thought about making amends. Hardly model behaviour.'

He held another naruto in his chopsticks and stared at it. 'Naruto… a fishcake. Mayhap they, whoever they are, named me after a whirlpool or a tornado, or even a waterspout, but no, probably a fishcake. Other kids get flowery or just damned cool names like "cherry blossom" or "fang", hell, even being named after boar like Ino is better than… "fishcake". Maybe it was their favourite, or least favourite, food? Or, perchance, they saw a sign in the sky in the shape of a… fishcake. Maybe they were trying to think of the most mundane things to name me after…'

He reached his left hand up to the back of his neck, just underneath his yukata, and unhooked the catch on his chain, and held the bottle cap on the end near to the fishcake. 'Vodochka. _That_ would be a good name, foreign and exotic. Maybe, if I had that name, I could move to the West and start up my own distillery? Or maybe get a job dressed up as a bottle? Or maybe I would be better off with Pyotr, or Vladimir? What does it matter, as long as it comes with recognition, it does not matter what the name is, except for possible embarrassment. Hyuuga Hinata, for example. How bored were they? Towards the sun a sunny place? Or is it some in-joke?'

He placed the chain back around his neck, and continued to eat. 'I will make amends. It was my fault.'

X

X

July 2nd:

'Well, _this_ place seems eerily familiar… hehe…'

All 28 of them (27 genin and Anko) were standing in front of a 10 metre high fence. Next to the fence was a shelter with a bench, behind which sat three examiners. Behind the fence were trees as wide as houses, but much taller. The sign on the gate said, 'Danger! Stay out!' 'Yes, there is danger,' thought Akki, 'she is called Mitarashi Anko, crazed Queen of the Forest. In her realm, everything is worth a shout! ... or a yell… or a cry…'

"**Or a squeal.**"

'Indeed.'

"Welcome to the stage for the second test, practice area 44," said Anko, turning back to the crowd and grinning evilly at them, "Or, as Akki-kun and I know it, 'The Forest of Death'." She winked at him.

"**Does that wink mean what I think it means?**"

'Look, ginger-pubes, if I want to know your interpretation of facial expressions, I'll _ask_ you. Besides, she's too young for you.'

"**And too old for you? Hehe…**"

'Quit your useless speculating and let me concentrate on current events! Why did the berks have to seal into me a demon that won't do so much as clean himself but will take pleasure in annoying me? Or should that be, takes pleasure in annoying me by not cleaning himself?'

"**I live in a sewer!**"

'Aren't you supposed to lick yourself, or something?'

"_**I live in a fucking sewer!**_"

'Yes, I heard the first time, now shut it. I don't want to miss any more of what's going on.'

"There are 27 people here, meaning nine teams. Almost half, four, will get the 'heaven' scroll, and another four will get the 'earth' scroll. The remaining team will get a random scroll, either heaven or earth, just to keep things interesting…"

x

Team 7 jumped from tree to tree, making their way towards the tower they had been told about. They had been given an earth scroll, which Akki carried in his pack, and had started running from gate 12 just a few minutes before.

"We need to form a plan," said Sasuke, "about what we are going to do. What with there being an odd number of scrolls, and we do not know which has more, earth or heaven, and with Akki's… performance yesterday, with the hand incident, and then apparently having fought a summon, we cannot count on being targeted by other teams. We will have to find them ourselves."

"Well…" said Hinata, quietly, "we could make our way to the tower and then ambush another group…"

"That relies on us getting there before our targets, whoever they end up to be," replied Akki, "so we run the risk of being ambushed ourselves. If we arrive too late, we will be ambushed when we arrive, and, if we travel too fast, we will find it more difficult to be alert for danger."

"We don't really have much else of a choice, though," said Sasuke, "There are only eight other teams in this entire forest and it might take ages to find any, by which time everyone else could have entered the tower with their scrolls. Well, four teams anyway. That would leave us with people trying to get our scroll, the only one left, in a pointless battle royale."

The other two nodded.

"Let's go, then," said Sasuke. They quickened their pace.

X

Team 7 had been cruising for hours, not approached by anyone, seemingly confirming their suspicion that they wouldn't be targeted. Akki, who knew the area, was leading them forward, taking the routes he knew were fastest: large deciduous trees with large branches bare of leaves for most of their length. His was also the route where it was most difficult to hide, but they lost that advantage due to their speed.

"Akki, why do you know this area so well?" asked Sasuke as they jumped along.

"I used to train here."

"Train? Why here? Why did you stop?"

"This place is usually empty of people and is quite large, and the dangers can be avoided quite easily when you know them. As for why I don't train here any more, Anko found me, and told me that she would train me to 'get the fuck off' her 'obstacle.'"

"I can imagine…Hey, what's this?" Sasuke rubbed his face and looked to his right. Hinata and Akki followed suit when, suddenly, a huge gust of wind caught them in the air and carried them crashing into the trees.

X

Naruto has been furthest from any handhold when the fuuton: Daitoppa technique struck, and his yukata had caught the wind like a sail. Spinning his arms around, he used conservation of angular momentum to orientate himself so that he was facing the direction he was travelling in, rather than being sideways on. He saw that he was going straight for a large tree, and at a speed he really did _not_ want to have to make a landing in. He formed a now familiar seal in abdomen: he would need both hands if this was to work.

Four shadow clones appeared, each a little behind him and to either side, clutching onto his arms and legs, on each. He had his arms and legs stretched as far back behind his body, and he then thrust them forward, clones in tow. The clones then launched themselves off of him, each ripping a large piece of cloth from his yukata, to reduce the sail effect. He managed to do this a few times before he was too close to the tree. By this time his yukata had been reduced to a long vest.

Just a few metres away, he brought his arms out in front of his head, and his knees in front of his torso. Then he landed. His hands impacted first, then his arms bent, slamming his elbows into the tree trunk as his knees hit. He felt his shoulders dislocate as his torso slammed into the trunk, and his forehead smashed into his hands. Momentarily confused, he was unable to make his body stick to the tree and he started to slide down towards the ground. He slid down to a bump on the trunk and was launched into the space between the trees as he fell towards the hard, bare ground. He felt his humeri slot back into their sockets as the fox did his work, and thought fast.

'I need to land before my speed picks up too much. I need to make the land rise up to me and stop moving before I hit. Or… get myself close to the ground before my speed picks up… Yes!' He formed the kage bunshin seal inside his abdomen and quickly made hand seals for the kawarimi. He started releasing chakra in quick bursts. A clone appeared in front of him and almost immediately they changed places, making him now a metre or so closer to the ground. He repeated this another thirty or so times until he was just half metre above the ground. He landed, and felt his right shoulder dislocate again. 'I hate my life…'

x

Hinata and Sasuke stood on a branch on the lee side of a tree, listening quietly to hear any sounds above the wind. Sasuke, who had first been alerted to the danger, and who had been closest to a tree, had grabbed Hinata's jacket with one hand and had used a wire in another to anchor them to this tree, where they had found this branch.

Shortly the wind stopped and they listened for any sound. They heard footsteps and stiffened, ready to fight or flee. The footsteps came closer, and seemed to be coming from below them. They looked underneath their branch to see Akki jogging quickly up the trunk towards them, seemingly from a lower branch.

"Akki…" breathed Hinata, sighing with relief, "We thought you were an enemy…"

"Hai."

"Stop!" shouted Sasuke, "Hinata, check him."

"What? Oh, right… Byakugan!" she said, forming seals. She stared at him intently. 'Yes, his odd chakra-circulatory system is there. It is him. Wait… something is wrong… His chakra! There's no red at all!' "It's not Akki!" She jumped up and stuck to the trunk further up, keeping the branch between her and the fake. Sasuke followed her.

"I had heard that you were the runt of the Hyuuga clan, Hinata-chan, but that was impressive. How did you know that I was a fake?"

"We saw Akki get blown away, there was no chance of him coming back here so quickly…" said Sasuke.

"And your chakra was the wrong colour…" said Hinata.

"I see. Neither tired nor ill-prepared are we? This will be more fun than I thought." He transformed back again, and they could now recognise him as being part of the only Grass team that passed the first exam. He stuck his tongue out at them, and it grew to an abnormal length as he, somehow, said, "You want my 'heaven' scroll, right? Since you guys have the 'earth' scroll…" They then stared at him in amazement as he took out his scroll and swallowed it, covering it with his tongue. "Now, let's begin," he said, "the battle for each other's scroll, with our lives on the line." He brought his hand up to his eye and pulled down the lower lid, and they could feel his massive killing intent, putting Kakashi's to shame.

As he felt the fear come upon him and the multiple images of his death, Sasuke dimly noticed his chakra flow stopping, and that both of them were beginning to fall. 'This is bad,' he thought, 'If I don't act quickly we will be going too fast for me to be able to do anything…' He tried to move but couldn't do anything fast. 'Move! Move!' he implored his right hand. Slowly, it took a kunai out of his leg holster and stabbed it into his thigh. Suddenly broken from his paralysis, he grabbed Hinata, who seemed to be unconscious, around the waist and threw a shuriken towards a branch, a wire trailing after it.

The shuriken flew above the branch as the wire started catching on it, and dropped down and around it, twisting around and anchoring the wire to the branch moments later. They were jolted out of their fall, and the wire cut into Sasuke's hand, drawing blood. They swung across the gap and under the branch and landed on the trunk of a tree on the other side. Sasuke let go of the wire and ran up the tree to another branch, which he set Hinata down on.

Hinata had been awakened by the jolt and was just now getting her bearings. Sasuke was staring behind him on the other side of the tree, breathing heavily and obviously agitated. 'We are still under attack?' She looked the other way to Sasuke and shouted to him "Snake!"

X

Naruto got himself back up and felt his shoulder relocate itself, when he heard the slithering noise behind him. He turned to see a snake behind him, which lunged at him. He gathered chakra to his legs and jumped up at a slight angle and landed on a tree branch far above. 'I have to find my team; I don't have time for this. Time to do a field test, a quick field test.' He did a quick set of seals, and a clone appeared in front of him. He watched as the clone started running straight down the tree towards the snake summon. Meanwhile, he started running back towards where he came from.

He pushed chakra to his eyes and felt the veins around them bulge. 'Where, where, where are they?' he thought as he looked through the trees and foliage to find his team. 'They are in trouble!' he thought as he saw a snake lunge at the two people on the branch. He quickened his pace, at the same time drawing back the chakra from his eyes. 'No need for them to see this…'

He heard a large explosion behind him, and looked behind him. The snake was blasted into many pieces, some singed, but none burning. 'Hypothesis: snake summons are flammable, rejected. Hehe… Most people obviously do not know how easy it is to kill a low level summon…'

X

Twenty minutes later, he knew he was getting close. He could hear a fire jutsu be cast and the sound of a man screaming. 'Curse that wind…' He ran up a trunk to get into a high position and then jumped to a branch he knew would let him see the situation. What he saw amazed him. A man was stepping out of a charred area casually as if nothing had happened, and Sasuke seemed unable to move. There were numerous scars on the 'landscape' with several burning trees and trees with large chunks blown out of them, and the area was littered with kunai and shuriken, so that he suspected that Hinata and Sasuke had exhausted their supply. Hinata was on a different tree from Sasuke and the assailant: it appeared that she had been knocked there, and was only just getting up again after being winded. She then stopped moving, as if her skin had become made of steel.

The assailant then formed a seal and his neck stretched to an amazing length and moved his head towards Sasuke, and he opened his mouth to reveal two snake-like fangs. 'This is bad…' thought Akki as he quickly threw a kunai. He performed the shuriken kage bunshin no jutsu, so that hundreds of knives were flying at the man, who disappeared in a puff of smoke as soon as he was hit. 'Shit, kage bunshin…' He jumped to the trunk of the same tree as Sasuke was on, pulling out his katars, searching for the enemy.

Back where the kunai had struck, a shape seemed to be rising out of the wood. 'Hiru Banshou: Bouka no Jutsu (Leech All Creation: Attack Prevention Technique)' he thought as the man appeared back where he was before. The man turned towards him and Sasuke and said, "An A-rank technique… very impressive, _Naruto_-kun…"

"_Naruto-kun…" "Naruto-kun!" "Naruto!" "Naruto!!" a screaming voice, this time, "Help us, Naruto!!!" this one a piercing shriek of a child. _He froze as, unbidden, the voices flooded mind, and then the images:

"_Help us, Naruto!!!" he heard Shinji scream as he tried to catch up after lagging behind. Worried, he ran harder even than before, until he turned into the area under the bridge where they were headed. He stood in shock as he saw the dog discard Shinji's body and jump towards him. He then felt the mysterious red glow engulf him as it had done before when he had been in danger and felt his body move in a way unfamiliar to him, and saw the dog get impaled on the many spikes that erupted out of his body and through his thin clothes._

_The enormity of what had happened started to become apparent to him as the glow faded and the spikes receded. He looked at the three other bodies, those of his friends, bloody and torn. They were still, except for one that seemed to breathe. He ran to it, tears in his eyes, until he stood over it. It was Kisuke. "Kisuke-chan…he's alive…"_

"_**I hate to break it to you like this, kit, but it would be best if you killed him.**__"_

"_What?!"_

"_**Not out loud, geez. Kill him, it is the best thing you can do.**__"_

'_Why?!'_

"_**His injuries are going to be fatal and, even if I am wrong, I am certain the dog was rabid, so he will absolutely certainly die of rabies.**__"_

'_Rabies?'_

"_**A… how do I say this so you understand? An illness that kills people. We do not have time for me to go on, your friend is still conscious and so is dying slowly and painfully. Do what you will.**__"_

'_Wait...'_

"_**I leave it to you, I will say no more. Do what you feel is best for your friend.**__"_

_He knelt down by Kisuke. "Kisuke, are you alright?"_

_There was no answer except for the sound of the injured boy breathing more heavily than before. It sounded like he was breathing through a pipe that was clogged._

"_Kisuke?" He nudged the boy's shoulder, trying to rouse him. Kisuke's eyes widened and the bubbling sound of his breathing amplified into one long agonised breath._

"_**What are you doing? Don't make it worse; just put him out of his misery!**__"_

'_What was that?'_

"_**That was a **_**scream**_**, you idiot!**__"_

_His thoughts froze. He had just hurt his friend. He stood up and placed his feet either side of Kisuke, and pushed a bone spike out of the base of his palm. 'Where do I strike?_

"_**The heart.**__"_

'_Here?'_

"_**No, a bit to the right. Further. Further. Down a bit. Too far! There. Now, do it!**__"_

_He pulled his arm back, preparing to strike, when Kisuke seemed to realize what was happening. His eyes widened, looking straight into Naruto's, and the clogged pipe sound increased in volume. Naruto hesitated._

"_**Do it!**__"_

_He shut his hot eyes, feeling the tears stream down his face and off his chin, and then opened them again. He then thrust his spiked hand into Kisuke's body, just as Kisuke made a clogging sound he could have sworn said 'Naruto…'_

_The body was still now, and silent. His eye's hurt, it seemed like they were burning up from the inside. He closed them and then opened them again. In both cases, open or closed, all he could see was a red haze. He didn't know what was happening to his eyes, and he didn't care. 'It's not fair! We just wanted to see the dog and…'_

"_**Life's not fair, kit. You need to be able to look after your own, because no one else will. What's happening to you right now should help you with that.**__"_

'_What is happening to me?'_

"_**You are gaining something that will help you protect you and yours… hehe… hehehehe…**__"_

'_What?'_

"_**No comment… hehehehe…**__"_

_In the haze, he saw two thick black discs form, with smaller red ones within them. There were three small black dots around each circle, all equidistant. From each dot, nine black lines, at different angles, spiralled in clockwise towards the circle before contacting. It looked like he had two very intricate shuriken in his eyes, though he did not know what shuriken were at the time. _Even now he did not know what they were, and had found no use for them. The fox had always remained tight-lipped about them, as if they were some hilarious joke that he had played upon him, one that would only remain funny as long as it was not told, and as long as he couldn't figure the things, these figments of his imagination, out.

His sight returned to him. It appeared the memory hadn't taken any significant time. He saw the leering man who had just called him by his name, given away his name to the world, cheapened it. He felt the anger drop to his stomach, and felt the familiar red haze. 'No. I am not going to overreact. I have a purpose, here.' The haze stopped piling on, but remained. He knew his eyes were now slit, as his sight became distorted, and that everyone will have felt his chakra.

He stared at the man, ignoring the stares from his team-mates, who seemed to be edging a little away from him. He then bared his teeth and glared, and said, "Who the fuck are you to call me that, snake bastard? And what were you going to do to Sasuke?"

His team-mates stared at him. 'His name really is Naruto?' they thought. 'And why is he speaking like that, what happened to his normal manner?'

The man chuckled to himself. "My name, as I told your team-mates, is Orochimaru, and I just happen to know your name, Uzumaki Naruto-kun."

'Orochimaru…' he thought, 'Where have I heard that name before… Orochimaru… one of three… Sannin… S-class missing-nin… Oh, shit… What do I do? Even if I used everything, I wouldn't stand a chance…' He readied himself to jump and said, "Orochimaru of the Sannin? What are you here for? What is it you want?"

"Sasuke-kun." The snake man smiled, revealing his fangs again.

He looked at Sasuke, who was standing ready to jump, with a kunai in each hand. Hinata also seemed to have recovered from the paralysis. 'I will give my best, up to the limit of what I can do without revealing anything significant. I will hope for ANBU backup and, if that does not happen, I will play dead.' "Sasuke-sama, Hinata-sama," he said, returning to his normal demeanour, "we must hold him back until the ANBU come."

"And if they don't?" asked Sasuke, still staring at Naruto's eyes.

"Do you have any better ideas?" he replied, letting his annoyance show through, something he seldom did.

Orochimaru chuckled again. "Very good, Naruto-kun, but are you that good?" He grinned at them, and launched himself at Hinata. She jumped towards the same tree that Sasuke and Naruto were standing on, but Orochimaru jumped off of her tree soon after and caught her in the air and threw her hard towards the ground then used his tongue to grasp the tree that Sasuke and Naruto were on, pulling him towards them.

Sasuke jumped across towards her and caught her, bringing her back to her original tree, and they watched what Naruto and Orochimaru did.

Orochimaru ran up the tree towards Naruto who threw an easily dodged kunai at him. Orochimaru stretched his tongue towards him and grabbed one of his arms with it. Naruto slashed at the tongue with the katar in his other hand, but, to his astonishment, the tongue resisted all his attempts to cut it. He was wrenched off the tree by the tongue and flung straight at another.

It was difficult to land on his feet with the tongue still tied to him, but he just managed. 'Feck, there's just one thing I can do, and even that reveals too much. It might be overlooked, though…' He jumped off the tree so that he was hanging in the air for a moment, the tongue still holding him up. He pumped chakra into his arm and then applied nature manipulation to it. Blue bolts of electricity flowed down his arm and down and through Orochimaru's tongue, burning it, until they reached the man himself, who disappeared in a puff of smoke. 'Kage bunshin? When did that happen, or was it always so?'

He landed on a branch just in time to see Orochimaru slice towards Hinata's neck with a kunai. He formed a Kawarimi seal in his abdomen and swapped places with her. He got Orochimaru's kunai in his left shoulder. Gritting his teeth at the pain, he thrust his right katar at Orochimaru's stomach, but he blocked it effortlessly with his other kunai, and took his other out of Naruto and started attacking with both. After a few strikes, which Naruto blocked, Orochimaru kicked him in the stomach, causing him to fall down the trunk, until he gripped it with his chakra covered hands and feet. Sasuke thrust at Orochimaru with his own kunai but Orochimaru grabbed his hand and pulled him towards him.

'I really ought to end this before Anko gets too close,' thought Orochimaru. 'We can't have everything…' He grabbed Sasuke's other arm and held him still in front of him, and then bit his neck. He then let Sasuke drop, causing Naruto to catch him, and then teleported away.

Naruto jumped next to Hinata, who was now standing on a branch, and dropped Sasuke down on it. 'Mission status: fail. Oh, well. Better luck next time. I wonder what's wrong with him, though…' he thought, watching as Sasuke writhed on the floor, clutching his neck.

"Ugh… What's this pain?" groaned Sasuke. 'Poison?' Naruto looked at Sasuke's neck. 'No, a seal. Three tomoe, like the sharingan. Is it related somehow?'

He replaced his katars into their sheaths as Sasuke writhed at his feet. 'Whatever that seal is, it had better not be troublesome, I have enough worries as it is.'

"**And what of his worries, then?**"

'Stop playing conscience with me, it's not funny.'

"**Come on! He is of your own species! You really feel nothing!?**"

'As a facial expression: a smug, vindictive grin, but it's still not funny, Kyubi. This is neither the time nor the place.'

"**Killjoy.**"

Hinata seemed to be trying to hold Sasuke still, with little success. 'Great, now we have neither stealth nor speed.' "Hinata-sama, we had best go elsewhere, before those interested come here looking for a fight."

"H-Hai, demo…" she nodded towards Sasuke as she held his arms still.

"I will do it, Hinata-sama. I am less tired than you, and night is falling." He grabbed Sasuke around his waist and lifted him up off the ground, trying his best to ignore the noise.

X

X

July 3rd 05:00:

Hinata replaced the damp cloth on Sasuke's forehead with one dripping with cold water. She was kneeling beside him, holding a bowl of water and the old cloth. He was lying on the floor of he charred wood chamber they were in. This tree's trunk had split into several large near vertical branches, and this one had been struck by lightning, leaving this charred chamber.

Akki slumbered to the right of the chamber entrance, still and silent except for his slight breaths. He was lying straight down on his back, except for his right hand which seemed to be clutching onto the end of a chain around his neck. It didn't quite seem to fit his persona, doing that; too sentimental for such a cold person. Then, he had been acting a little oddly the last night, since the encounter with Orochimaru.

She stood up and stepped over Sasuke's prone form towards Akki's. She moved to nudge him with her foot, but, remembering what had happened during the first exam, thought better of it. "Akki-san…"

His eye's blinked open. "My watch, Hinata-sama?"

She nodded as he pushed himself up so that he was leaning against the wall, with a view out of the entrance. She then walked over to the opposite corner of the 'cave' and leant against the wall. She watched him rub the sleep from his eyes, a strangely human action, and pull a few tangles out of his hair. After a few moments, she spoke: "Nee, Akki-san… Is your name really Uzumaki Naruto?"

He stared at her for a moment before replying, with a harsh edge to his voice, "I have no name, Hinata-sama."

She felt annoyed. "You are lying. Why is it that you keep your name to yourself, and deny it? It is hardly honest."

His stare turned into glare as he shouted back, "Oh really? It is none of your concern nor anyone else's, just as it is none of mine to ask any of the following: 'How come you are so much weaker than the Hyuuga standard, or is the standard not really that high for such a pathetic clan?' 'Why is it that you were never escorted to and from the Academy for the last two years, as would be expected of a Hyuuga heiress, while your sister is?' 'Why do you speak in that ridiculous stutter?' Or, how about, 'Is _your _name a joke at your expense? Does it infer that you are redundant?' 'Why do you not wear your clan's robes?' None of these are any of my concern. I will not answer your questions!"

She looked at him, somewhat bewildered at his sudden mood swing, and cast her eyes downward, not wanting to meet his eye, and mumbled something incomprehensible before curling up to get the best sleep she could on the hard wood-charcoal surface, ignoring how smudged her clothes now were. 'I really am too tired to think about this… so tired…'

Naruto looked away and out of the entrance. 'Nosy fucking… I am lost for words… meh…'

"**It really is laughable how you treat a set of syllables.**"

'I don't recall you ever telling me _your_ name.'

"**I don't have one, brat.**"

'Oh, sure, like I haven't heard that excuse a hundred times.'

"**We use smells and descriptions, so it really is not applicable. However, you are being totally irrational. It is not as if they would not be able to find your name after you leave.**"

'You are irrational if you think that argument will sway me, now leave me alone. I am supposed to be alert.'

X

_As screams filled his ears, his screams, he saw a silhouette hold up a shiny object that then slice open two other silhouettes in a spray of red. They slumped, revealing themselves to be his parents as moonlight beamed in from a nearby window. There was a flicker, and he saw Itachi standing in a different position, staring blankly at him. Here was another flicker, and he then saw his parents murdered again, and then again, and again, and again. He felt the hatred fill every vein, and the burning pain on the left side of his neck. He did not know what it was, but he didn't care. He would kill that man._

He suddenly felt as though he had been lying uncomfortably on a bench for hours, and his eyes flickered open. He seemed to be surrounded by a purple haze, and he had no idea where he was. 'Where did the bastard go?! What did he just do?'

He sat up, and saw Akki staring at him with his default expression. He turned to his left to see Hinata looking at him with concern. These weren't the right people. 'Where did he go?'

He jumped up and ran out of the hollow, and ran down towards the trunk of the tree. When he reached the junction between the branch and the trunk, he jumped onto the branch of another tree and then another, trying as hard as he could to detect an indication of Itachi's presence. He jumped again. While in flight, however, he heard a faint zipping sound and instinctively curled himself into a ball, unable to dodge in the air.

He felt pain stab into the right side of his torso as some of the shuriken hit, but still managed a good landing on the branch he had aimed for. He looked to his right and saw the barest glimpse of another human being. His blood boiled, and the purple haze whipped about feverishly.

X

He stared down at the bloody remains of the shinobi he had just killed, the one with the holes in his hands, or at least that had been the case when he had _had_ hands. He had ripped them to pieces, and was now physically exhausted and had lost his great feeling of power. He felt nauseous and winded, and his mind was a jumble of conflicting emotions. He had _slaughtered_ them. He felt sick, paralyzed, weak. He felt angry at himself for this: how could he kill Itachi if he felt like this? How could he be a shinobi if he felt like this? Why was he so affected, while Akki hadn't even blinked? Had Itachi felt like this when it was his first time? What _had_ been his first time?

He didn't move from his kneeling position, or even breathe, until he heard a familiar voice shout down to him from high up in the trees. "Sasuke-kun! Are you alright?" Hinata asked.

"He seems recovered to fighting strength, to me, Hinata-sama," said Naruto soon afterward. 'That was superficially similar to me calling upon the fox's chakra, although it seems to do something else as well. If this is Orochimaru's way of favouring favourites, I am glad I am not one. Oh, favouring favourites. Hehe… … I really am immature, there really must be something wrong with me, or something _else_ wrong with me, at least.'

Sasuke turned to him and glared. 'That smug bastard! If I meet him in the third exam I'll murder him!' "I am _fine_." He stood up and rummaged through the belongings of the dead trio from the Sound until he found their scroll. It was Earth, like theirs. He glared at it, almost as if he thought his glare could set it aflame, before pushing it into his equipment pouch. "We will continue our journey. If we meet any friendly teams we will use this scroll as a bargaining chip. Let's go!" he shouted as he leapt off.

"A-Ano, Sasuke-kun, that's the wrong way…" he heard Hinata shout after him. He stopped, turned and glared at her. She averted her eyes when his gaze met hers and pointed with the hand that was not holding Sasuke's pack in what was presumably the right direction.

X

X

Kiba followed the strong scent of blood, frantically trying to get to the source. His team, Sakura and Shino, followed him with seemingly equal urgency. Akamaru, who was stuffed down his coat, occasionally yipped corrections to his path, though they were so close now that it seldom happened now. "We are nearly there, Sakura."

"H-Hai? Then... Ino..."

They turned a corner into a clearing, and were brought to a stop by what they saw. The area was covered in sand and blood, and there were three bodies, barely recognisable apart from their hair and forehead protectors.

"Ino!!!" she cried as she rushed forward. Oblivious, she only noticed the kunai when they struck her in the knees, as the sound of torn flesh reached he ears, as she felt the pain and as she collapsed to the ground, screaming.

Her two teammates looked around quickly, their hands on their shuriken holsters, and started to move towards Sakura.

"Don't move!" shouted a voice from the trees. "If you do, we will kill you."

They stopped, and looked in the direction the voice had come from. The voice continued, "You are rookies, one of you is injured, and you are in plain sight. You are at a disadvantage. However, we do not wish to kill you, we only want your scroll."

"What, so their scroll and their deaths were not enough for you?! You bastards, I'll kill you!" shouted Kiba as he rushed towards the sound of the voice.

"You truly _are_ rookies," said the voice, from the opposite direction this time. "Fancy that, an Inuzaka without a sense of smell! If you had been using your talents earlier, you would have realised that I was not in that direction, and that _we_ are not responsible for what happened to your friends. We found them like this, and, knowing that you are an Inuzaka, waited for you to walk into our trap. You are now in it, and we are offering fair terms to you."

"What?! How cou-- mmmph mmph..."

Shino stood behind him, covering his mouth, his eyebrows down above his nose, showing his annoyance. "Your terms are indeed fair," he said, "but I want to know, first, who it is that I am dealing with."

"Hmmph," smirked the voice, "my name is Hyuuga Neji, Aburame Shino."

x

x

They cruised through the forest at a leisurely pace, for a ninja, that is. Hinata led the way, Byakugan ablaze, looking out for any and all living creatures within her range. As she scanned the area, behind her she could hear a rather rare thing: a conversation between her two teammates that was not about mission specifics.

"... I have no name, Sasuke-sama."

"Just _tell_ me, bastard."

"Tell you what?"

"Your _name!_"

"But you know my primary identifier already, and I have no name, I was never given one, unless you consider Akuma-Gaki Akki to be a name."

The conversation continued in this one-sided way for a while. Hinata smiled to herself, Sasuke had obviously not heard or not remembered what Orochimaru had said the day before, but only had a vague idea. 'Good,' she thought, 'Why should get the answer for no effort when I have been observing him for months?

'Then again, has he been observing me, or something? _"Oh really? It is none of your concern nor anyone else's, just as it is none of mine to ask any of the following: 'How come you are so much weaker than the Hyuuga standard, or is the standard not really that high for such a pathetic clan?' 'Why is it that you were never escorted to and from the Academy for the last two years, as would be expected of a Hyuuga heiress, while your sister is?' 'Why do you speak in that ridiculous stutter?' Or, how about, 'Is your name a joke at your expense? Does it infer that you are redundant?' 'Why do you not wear your clan's robes?' None of these are any of my concern. I will not answer your questions!" _Or is is it obvious? Has everyone else noticed? Does everyone else know? Am I really a laughing stock?' The other voice then came up, 'You had the _demon_ call you a laughing stock? You really are pathetic, more now than ever. They probably put you on this team, which seems to be a combat team, just so you could _spy_ on him, not because of your negligable ability, and it seems you can no longer do even that, with him running from you all the time. What new level of uselessness will there be during the next year?'

'Just go away... please. Leave me alone. How ridiculous, pleading with my own consciousness not to think those thoughts... Wait... running? Does he know that I am watching him? No, can't be... Can't be...'

x

They had ben travelling in silence for while now, and seemed to be getting close to the tower. It was just a few hundred metres away, and dwarfed the trees around it.

Hinata stopped on a branch and pointed a little to the right of the direct route to the tower. "There," she said. "There are three lying in wait in a tree, waiting for someone to come into their view. They have a... heaven scroll!"

They nodded to each other, and started to mold a little ready chakra. Hinata and Akki were knocked out of concentration by a groan from their teammate. Sasuke was kneeling on the branch with his right hand clutching the left side of his neck so hard that his knuckles were white. "Sasuke-kun," said Hinata, her Byakugan activated, "it seems that you cannot use chakra at all without activating that thing."

Sasuke growled before straightening. He would have to use taijutsu only. "Let's go, then."

"Or... assuming that the first exam is still in their memory, we could use me as a threat," Akki replied. 'A demon must have some use, surely?' "There is a possibility that they would view a demon who killed a summon while being attacked by a jounin as a threat."

x

x

13:09:

"Kakashi, your team has arrived!" Anko shouted towards him from the doorway of the jounin waiting room. He turned to face her and stood up as she rushed off.

He walked out and through a corridor until he came to a door labelled 'Summoning room 5, no unauthorised persons'. He entered the room and observed the screen on one side of it. It showed team 7, in grainy greyscale, reading the sign on one end of the room they were in. Their clothes were, to varying degrees, torn and bloody, with Naruto's in the worst condition on both fronts. His katars, which he held by his side, were dripping recently aquired blood; they had obviously just finished a fight, likely fatal to at least one person.

Sasuke and Hinata then seemed to talk amongst themselves for a few moments, while Naruto leant against the wall, before unravelling the scrolls and then frantically throwing them to the floor, where they smoked.

Kakashi then quickly inputted a code into a panel by the screen, and then all he saw was a flash.

x

He was now standing in front of three genin who looked like they had been expecting an attack, as they all were in 'ready' stances. "Easy now, easy now," he said, holding his hands up by the side of his head. They relaxed, and Akki wiped his katars on his clothing before replacing them in their sheaths.

"Now, I will speak to each of you two later," he said, nodding at Hinata and Akki, "but for the moment I need to to speak to Sasuke about the seal on his neck. You may leave through the door behind me." As he said that, they sensed a genjutsu cancel itself, but their looks of surprise were caused by something else. "Ahem."

"A-Ano... Kakashi-sensei, how do you know about that mark on Sasuke?"

"Orochimaru told us himself, Hinata-chan. Now, if you two would excuse us..."

They nodded and left. Kakashi then turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, I need to see it."

x

x

July 4th 10:43:

_He felt his small body struggle through the almost knee deep water that filled the corridor. It was warm, very warm, and he could feel it warming his feet like a foot bath. It was about the same temperature as an onsen (hot spring). It was agitated, as if a great beast was thrashing around elsewhere in the pool._

_The corridor he was in had many other passages splitting off from it, dark and, to him, menacing. He thought he could see shadows of assassins stir in them and moved frantically in the direction of the the only light there was: a orange-red glow from down the main branch of the corridor. He finally reached a turning, where the light was bright. A way away were many iron pillars towering above the floor, forming a gate with a single piece of paper keeping it shut, inscribed with the word 'seal'. Beyond the bars was a collossal fox-like animal which seemed to leer at him, thrashing its nine tails against the floor, causing the water to wave with such intensity that Naruto could barely keep himself upright._

_He stared, open-mouthed, at the beast as he leant on the wall for support. The thrashing of the tails and the water then died down as the beast seemed to stare right back at him. Seconds past like minutes, before the beast finally rumbled, "__**Hmmmph, to think that I had heard that it was **_**humans**_** who were supposed to be the talkative ones. Pity, it seems that I have created a **_**mute**_."_

_"Huh? You can talk?"_

_"__**What? No? Of course not! You must be dreaming one of those blissfully vague dreams of yours, what do you expect?**__"_

_"Oh..." The boy then bit his hand, seemingly trying to wake himself up with pain._

_The beast sighed. "__**Not a mute but an idiot... I was being sarcastic, you dolt! This is not a dream! This is as real as you can get beyond the physical dimension you are so accustomed to, so stop embarrassing me with your stupdity.**__"_

_"G-Gomen..."_

_"__**'Gomen'? Who do you think you are, using such informal language with me? You should be more respectful to your betters, young human.**__"_

_"G-G-Gom-men—"_

_"__**What, again? Have you no education? No concept of ettiquette? When you address me, you call me 'Kyubi-sama', and when you apologise to me you say 'Moushiwake arimasen', is that clear?**__"_

_"H-Hai, Kyubi-sama."_

_"__**Good... Now, before you go to sleep, which you need to do, there is something I want you to do for me...**__"_

_"W-What is it, K-Kyubi-sama?"_

_"__**Just come towards me, that is all you need to do.**__"_

_The boy waded towards him until he was an arms length from the cage. Suddenly, the fox's claws whipped out and flew towards him. He shut his eyes, expecting the end, before he felt his body be covered by a furry warmth. He opened his eyes to see that he was being held between two of the beast's toes and was being held in front of its head. It grinned. Then Naruto saw a red haze cover him, and felt a slight ache in his whole body. "What is happening to me?" he asked the behemoth that had him at his mercy._

_The best chuckled softly, as though in an effort to spare the child's ears from damage, before saying, "__**I am accepting your gift to me, the gift of sensation. I will see what you hear, smell what you smell, hear what you hear, taste what you taste... and feel what you feel, both literally and in terms of your emotional state. You will not be able to hide anything from me. As the benefactor of my generosity, it is the least you can do.**__"_

_"Benefactor? What does that mean?"_

_Kyubi sighed again, "__**Some other time, manling. Now, sleep!**__"_

He awoke, and smirked to himself. 'Kyubi-sama? How laughable!'

"**Probably as laughable as the notion of you having a lover."**

'Yes, it probably is, now shut it! Damnation, you are supposed to observe, not interfere!'

He sat up in his bed, well, a bed; it wasn't his, per se. He had, with Hinata, been taken to this four bedroom flat within the tower where they, with Kakashi, would live for the next few days until the exam ended. Sasuke, however, had been taken to the hospital. 'Ugh... no privacy for at least three days... this will be almost as bad as the mission to the Wave...'

He rubbed sleep out of his eyes with his left hand, while his right flung the duvet off of him. He then stood up and picked up the towel and shampoo from the shelf above the bed, before opening the door to the living room, with the bundle under his arm.

Hinata and Kakashi were sitting on a sofa in the middle of the room watching the news on the television. They had their backs to him, and seemed not to have heard him. The news seemed to be that there had been some riots in the capital, as a result of a strike among dockworkers turning sour when scabs had been sent past the picket lines escorted by police. The images on the screen then turned into those of the Daimyo's ninja corps beating the rioters back and dispersing them with ninjutsu...

He shut his eyes and turned away. He did not want to experience that memory, not at this time. He wanted a relaxing day, this would not help.

He heard that the news had switched to a different subject, and opened his eyes again, and greeted the two others. "Ohayou gozaimasu, Kakashi-sensei, Hinata-sama." He then walked towards the shower room.

Kakashi didn't turn towards him, but waved his hand and said, "Ohayou."

Hinata, on the other hand, who had been surprised to hear his voice, did turn to him, saying, "Ohayou gozaimasu, Akk-k-k--" as she saw his naked, oblivious form walk into the other room. She quickly turned away and covered her face, ignoring the chuckles from Kakashi.

x

Naruto stepped out of the shower room, rubbing his wet hair with the towel as he walked back to his room in order to get dressed. He was interrupted, however, by Kakashi's voice reaching his ears, "Naruto-kun..."

He froze, and felt his face form a snarl involuntarily. 'How the hell?... How dare he?... Grrr...' After a few moments he calmed down. 'Well, it should not be surprising to me that he knows. He was probably given my file and everything...' Realising that he must reply, he said, "Nani, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi stood up and turned the television off and then said, "I would just like to speak with you for a while, if you would sit with me."

"Hai." The clothes would have to wait, but it was warm enough that they weren't strictly necessary. He walked over and sat down on the sofa, flinging the towel onto the coffee table.

Kakashi looked at him for a few seconds, noting that, for some reason, the seal on the boy's stomach was visible, when clearly it had not been so at other times he had seen the boy's torso. Dismissing this, he sat back down before facing him again.

Naruto was facing straight forward, staring at the blank television as if Kakashi didn't exist. Kakashi cleared his throat, and Naruto's eyes swivelled towards him, staring into his eyes for a while, before turning back to the blank screen. He decided that he might as well continue: "There are a few things I need to clear up, Naruto, and the first one is your name. You are officially registered as Akuma-Gaki Akki and your real name is hardly mentioned anywhere, but, as you are no doubt aware, your teammates have now found out what it is, and I have confirmed it for them."

Naruto stared at him. 'No, it's something more than that,' thought Kakashi, 'It is a glare.' "What I want to know is: Why? Why do you pick a name that directly embraces the prevailing opinion of you instead of the one you were born with: Uzumaki Naruto. Do you actually view yourself as a demon? Do you reject your name because you know nothing about its origins? Do you view it as your only, to give to those you tr--"

"It is none of your concern, Kakashi-sensei." The glare was obvious now, and boy looked like he would simply leave the room if this line of questioning continued. '"It is none of your concern"... Where have I heard that before...?' _"What is it, Gai?"_

"_I met your team, Kakashi."_

"_Oh? What about them?"_

"_This is about the 'legacy' in particular…"_

_He felt annoyed, very annoyed. 'What does he want to do with him?'. "Yes, what of him?"_

"_Are you sure it is alright for you to have him as your student Kakashi? Maybe you should concentrate more on your other students, like the Uchiha? Everyone has seen you at the bar; you can't conceal the fact that something is wrong. Akki's presence is obviously not good for you—"_

"_It is none of your concern." 'How dare that moron question me? Naruto is my concern, not his!'_

"_Kakashi… I just want to help. I could train him for you for a couple of months maybe, to give you a break?"_

"_No. Besides, it is essential that Hinata is on his team. I will not explain why." 'Is he calling me incompetent?'_

"_I could take them both—"_

"_No!" 'Yes, he _is_ calling me incompetent! Grrr...'_

_Gai held his hands up near his head in a placating gesture and said, "Fine, fine. My offer still stands though. I'd like to compare him to my Lee…" He then lapsed into silence, which then reigned for a couple of minutes. "Well… I'll see you later I guess. Bye!" He teleported away._

'I see... I should probably abandon this for a while... Maybe I should take Gai's advice? No, no. Later. Think about this later.' Naruto was still glaring at him, despite the seconds of silence that had passed. He sighed, and said, "Right, next thing. How long have you known that you have the Shikotsumyaku?"

"The what?"

"The ability you have to manipulate your bone structure."

"Oh..." The boy faced away from him again, as if in thought, before replying, "About three years, I think. Why?" The blank faced expression had returned.

"Do you know how you got it?"

"No, sensei."

"Have you used it much?"

"No, sensei."

"Have you trained with it?"

There was silence for a few seconds, as the boy seemed to consider his answer. He then said, "Not for a while, Kakashi-sensei."

'So, he _has_ been training with it recently. How and when? Has he been aware when Hinata was watching him?' "Naruto, there really is no need for you to train your ability in secrecy. In fact, it is a handicap. You would likely benefit from my instruction in how do develop it. That is what I am here for, partly."

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei."

'But, wait... didn't Anko say something about Orochimaru wanting Sasuke's sharingan? It would probably not be wise for this to become more public than it is already.' "However, and I cannot stress this enough, do not reveal it in public unless you absolutely must, otherwise a good deal of its surprise value is gone. Understood?"

"Hai."

"One more thing, Naruto. When we were in the Wave country, you told me that you were training yourself to be a weapon for Konoha. However, when you returned to the village 5 years ago, you said you had come to learn how to defend yourself. Why the change, especially since your ability fulfils most of your defensive needs?"

"It is as you said yourself, Kakashi-sensei, my ability provides me with good defence, but also an offence, such that if I make my purpose to be a weapon, it is a goal that I can succeed in. May I go now?"

'Damn.' "Yes, you may."

Naruto picked the towel up from the coffee table and flung it over his shoulder, before standing up and walking towards his room. When he got to the door, however, he turned and said, "Kakashi-sensei, please do not call me Naruto again." He then went into his room, shutting the door gently behind him.

x

x

Anko sat in the control room, boredly waiting for the last team to come in. She knew that only three teams would pass because of how many scrolls there were in total and how many had been brought in. There had, originally, been 9 scrolls, 4 of earth and 5 of heaven. The team from the sand had brought in one of each, making it 3 and 4 respectively. Akki-kun's team, however, had brought in 2 and 1, so that now there was only one earth scroll left outside.

Akki had, apparantly, killed only three. She was disappointed, though was pleased to find out that his teammate had killed another three. He had come in with most of his clothing gone as well... again. She sighed...

After some moments, there was a flicker on one of the television screens. She looked at it, to see that the last team had indeed come in. 'Damnit, I am going to have to find all the failures, now...'

x

x

15:00:

They were lined up now, all nine of them, since the last three had arrived earlier today, waiting for the Hokage to arrive. The three sand nin seemed to be staring at Akki oddly, and it was annoying him. 'What? Do I have some gross physical deformity, or are they just awestruck to see a demon today? Fucking _tourists_! Hehehehehehe...'

"**Perhaps they are just staring at your ripped up excuse for a yukata?**"

'What?' He looked down at himself. He hadn't yet had a chance to get another piece of clothing, and his garment had lost most of its sleeves, everything below the waist, showing off his shorts and a little bare skin above them, as well as his katar sheaths. A large portion of the collar was also missing, as well as a few patches elsewhere that hadn't been covered by his pack at the time. 'Haha, I suppose I do look somewhat strange, but still... they can't be staring at me like that for that reason. The one with the heavy load looks like he wants to eat me, and the other two just confuse me. Hopefully they will stop soon.'

At that moment, the Hokage walked in through a side door and onto the dais. 'Ah, silly-hat-jichan. Brilliant. "Well done for passing the second test, but we decided to cancel the exam this year"? Or maybe, "Well done, but, unfortunately, none of you meet our standards, so we will be replacing the third exam with an all-applicant battle-royale with all 170 or so applicants from the start"? Nah, probably, "Well done! You are now all chunin! Your mission today will be... ah yes... You are to search the Forest of Death for my beard wax, I think I dropped it..."'

He was interrupted by the old man clearing his throat, and who then started talking. "As you may be aware, the second exam has ended early, as it is now logically impossible for any other teams to pass, as there are no earth scrolls left in the circulation, as it were, in the forest outside. For that reason, I am going to give you the talk now so that you can start preparing for the third examination as quickly as possible.

"Firstly, congratulations to all eight of you for passing the second examination, and to the one other, who is in hospital..." He paused, and looked over them all. His gaze lingered the most on the heavily laden Sand nin and Naruto, who thought, 'He always looks at me like that, but who is that red haired guy to get such attention?'

The old man seemed to mutter to himself, and looked over his shoulder at Gai and Kakashi, as the former of whom seemed to be trying to goad his rival about something. The old man said something he could barely hear, but it seemed to be something about 'passing rivalry down to the next generation', whatever that entailed. Apart from Kakashi, Gai and the Hokage, there was a Sand nin, obviously the sensei of the three down near them. Standing in front and to the side of the Hokage, on both sides, were Morino Ibiki and Mitarashi Anko, and a few other ninja, who he assumed to be assistant examiners, unless te third examiner was also there.

"Hokage-sama will now explain the third test," said Anko. "Listen carefully. Now Hokage-sama, please."

"Yes." The old man took a puff on his pipe before continuing. "For the coming third test... But before I explain that, there is something I'd like you to know..." '"I recommend grade six wax"??!' thought Naruto, chuckling in his mind.

"**He uses grade five wax, are you blind?**"

'sigh ... You take things too far... ... thumbless wonder.'

"**'Thumbless wonder? What the hell is that?!**"

'Er...'

"**You've just run out of insults, didn't you?**"

There was 'silence'.

"**Aha! I win! Now it's **_**my**_** turn to pick a game. Let's see...**"

'You louse-covered, sex-starved, mangy _scavenger_!'

"**Damn you--**"

'Shut it!'

"It concerns the true nature of this exam," the old man continued. 'Oh, what is that then? Don't tell me you are going to reaffirm the friendship bollocks...' "Why do we have all the alianced countries taking the exam together? 'To promote friendship among the countries.' 'To raise the level of shinobi.' I don't want you to be confused about the true meaning..." 'Ah, so it's not. Good.'

"This exam is a replacement for war among the allied countries."

"What does that mean?" asked the girl on Gai's team. 'No one else does go to the library, do they?'

"If you go back in time, the current allies were enemies who fought each other over who would rule." 'Totally ignoring, and trampling on, the common people in the process. Whose livelihoods, homes and crops are destroyed?' "In order to prevent wasteful fighting, the stage that these countries... that is the origin of this chunin exam." 'It will not satisfy for long. Eventually someone will realise that there are more drastic ways to alter the balance of power, and will act on their realisation. Not that it hasn't worked well as a band-aid, of course...'

"The balance of power between the countries is so determined by the outcomes of the exams we hold twice each year. Those who assess this are the nobles and other influential individuals who watch the third exam, such that each country will gain or lose influence and, for the attached hidden village, clients, based on the perceived strength of each village's ninja, which is best judged when their lives are on the line. This is why we structure the third test as a tournament of one-on-one matches."

"But then why do you say stuff about it being for 'friendship'?" the girl asked again. 'Because is is easier to tell the general public and, especially, naïve school children. What do you think?'

"I said it in the beginning. I don't want to confuse the purpose of this. By losing life and establishing balance, this is the shape of friendship in the world of shinobi." 'Bullshit! This way is simply cheaper, in terms of lives, time training those lives and in terms of the economy as well! The last war actually affected the quality of the food in the Daimyo's household! This does not stop the more ambitious countries from holding back their more vicious members for a few years to train them up before unleashing them onto the weaker applicants from other countries to thin their ranks! Although, in some cases, that wasn't necessary. Momochi Zabuza springs to mind: his team was the only one to reach the third exam for three years running, six exams, because his team refused to fight eachother in the finals, so they couldn't promote him until his seventh try, when some other teams reached the finals. True, it was a different group of allies, but it still applies.'

"Before we begin the third test I will tell you one more thing. This is not just a test. This is a life-risking battle with your dreams and your country's prestige on the line." 'Not mine. My dream, fortunately enough, does not depend on rank, and only slightly on money.'

"I don't care what it is," said the heavily-laden Sand nin, "Just hurry up and tell us what this life-risking battle entails."

Looking a little annoyed by the boy's tone, the old man replied, "Yes, I'd like to explain the third test. As I told you before, in the main event, your matches will be seen by everybody. Each of you will fight to represent the strengths of your countries. I'd like you to show off your powers with no reserves," 'Show off? I hope that I can avoid that to any significant degree. If not, the money would not be worth the price.' "which is why the finals will be held one month from now. This break, you can say, will be for preparations..."

"What does that mean?" asked the male Hyuuga in the room.

"In other words, in addition to informing all the various country lord and shinobi leaders, this is the time needed to arrange for the gathering of the event and this is also the preparation time for you examination students."

"I don't understand what you'e trying to say! What does that mean?" asked the 'face-painted one', as Naruto thought of him.

"Basically, it's the preparation to get to know your enemy and yourself. It's the period where you will calulate your chances of winning by analysing the data you accumulated during the trial competition. The tests up until now placed you into a situation of uncertainty. This is not the case in this test. You will have the opportunity to determine eachother's abilities in advance, if you have the skill, and so develop strategies for defeating your opponents, a key skill for a chunin team leader.

"The battle format will be this: for each battle there will really be no rules except one: the examiner has absolute power. He can stop the fight whenever and however he wishes, and he decides the victor. Other than that, you can go as far as you like, even killing your opponent, unless the examiner stops you first. The battles themselves will be arranged in a tournament, with the winner of a match going on to the next round and eventually the final match. However, despite that, who becomes chunin is decided independently of, though obviously influenced by, how many matches you win. The judgement for who becoms chunin is based on what are deemed desirable qualities for that rank that are observed during your battles."

There was silence for a few seconds as Anko walked up next to the Hokage, carrying a box. She winked at Akki again, and he was not oblivious. 'She is winking at me again? What does she want? Am I some sort of tragic entertainment? What does she _want_?'

"**You, obviously--**"

'Shut it, or I will eat nothing but rice for a month!'

'Silly-hat-jichan' smirked and shook his head. "Thank you, Anko. Ahem, inside the box that Anko is holding are nine pieces of paper. You should take one piece each. Each piece has a number that will determine who you fight in a month's time. You will then be offered two chances, now and in a month, to forfeit your match, depending on what you think of your opponent." 'Forfeit? Unlikely...'

Anko went around with the box and all eight of them that were there took out a piece of paper. Akki's was the number 8.

"Ah, good. Good. We can now reveal to you the tournament structure for your matches." 'Good, I can prepare immediately...'

Morino Ibiki then turned around his clipboard, where he had written down the tournament structure in a diagram:

1. Hyuuga Neji

vs.

2. Kankurou

3. Temari

vs.

4. Hyuuga Hinata

5. Ten Ten

vs.

6. Uchiha Sasuke

7. Gaara

vs. winner of:

8. Akuma-Gaki Akki

vs.

9. Rock Lee

Naruto felt his eyes widen, and felt his face fall into an expression of sad disbelief. 'Shit... Of all the people to be drawn against first,' he thought, ignoring the sudden attention from all those used to his usual manner. 'From what I know, he is too fast for me to finish it easily. I am not yet skilled enough to use what I have already revealed without almost certainly killing him, and most of my other stuff is almost invariably fatal as well...' He felt a cold, empty feeling rise in his stomach, akin to acute indigestion. 'No... I can't do it. The money is not worth anyone's death. I can't do it, I am not a demon, not a monster... I can't...'

"**Weak human... you should do what is necessary.**"

'Shut _up_! It is not necessary... all that money, just useful. Optional. You just want the killing experience again. Just stay out of this!'

Kyubi didn't reply.

'Thank you... ... ... I hate that bastard... I hate them all, but I had been hoping to face Hinata or that other Hyuuga, to bring that clan's prestige down, but no... it has to be this... it will make everything so much harder...'

Slowly, shudderingly, though he did not realise it, he raised his hand above his head, staring blankly straight ahead though his mask of sad disbelief. 'Damn damn damn...'

He felt the stares intensify, until the Hokage himself asked, "What is it, Akki-kun?"

He swivelled his eyes towards the man, keeping his body totally still otherwise, and then said, "I... forfeit, Hokage-sama."

The old man raised his eyebrows in mild surprise, but this was nothing compared to others. Hinata stared at him in obvious shock, and Kakashi did better at hiding his. They had only known him to treat all obstacles as things to be cut to pieces. Gai seemed confused,switching his eyes back and forth between Lee and Akki, seemingly trying to see a connection. Anko look very disappointed, even a little angry, like a child promised a treat that was then forgotten, or denied.

Silence reigned for a few more moments before it was broken by the Sandaime. "I see... well, in that case, you may go, Akki-kun."

"Hai..." He turned and walked towards the door at the end of the hall, seething inside. 'These past few days of work, rendered useless! I would have been better off simply training in that time! Fortune offers me a gift and then kicks me in the teeth...'

When he reached the door, he opened it and walked through, and then slammed it hard behind him.

x

x

x

A/N: Well, that was long, and ended on a down note as well... I didn't mean for it to be so immense (honest), but I also wanted to get the first two exams over with at a stroke. Unfortunately it took me a whole month to get through this. It was difficult, as you can probably tell from the text itself. Quality has probably suffered.

From EroEro-Kitsune's review, I have the idea that it might be entertaining, and possibly useful, for me to ask you, the reader, what pairing(s) you think there should be in this fic ("should there be any at all?" indeed…). That is, which ones you think would fit the best with how the characters, especially Naruto, are in this fic. The results, taking EroEroKitsune into account, are currently:

Naruto/Anko: 1

Naruto/Tenten: 1

This does not necessarily mean that there will be a pairing. The pairing, if any, will be subservient to the story, not the other way around. However, just because it will be subservient to the story does **not** mean that it will just 'added-in' without it affecting anything else. That would be pointless.

Oh, and sorry, Ino is now dead... hehe...

Also, given that it is now quite a while since I started this, and I know for certain that certain aspects of my writing style, focus etc. will have changed, I would like to know what you feel. Is the overall quality getting better or worse? What changes in style and focus from chapter 1 to this chapter are good, and what changes do you detest? Or, indeed, am I just imagining things and there really is no significant difference? Are there any inconsistencies I need to explain away with haphazard handwaving?

Also, in case anyone was in any way affected by the bit earlier about when he killed Kisuke, and Kisuke's state beforehand, well... apart from saying "It says 'M' at the top...", I can only be absolutely frank: When, at the beginning of September, I was coming up to writing that path, I also saw one of the few videos to really make me angry. It was being hosted on a Nazi website and featured Russian Nazis (however contradictory that would seem at first) killing two Caucasian (as in, Georgia, Chechnya, Armenia, Azerbaijan etc.) migrant workers, one by shooting and another by beheading, and this while they had put their ghastly 'music' on top of the screams... I am sure you can see the influence of the beheading. I don't know, I suppose that I believe that violence and injury should be portrayed in as horrifyingly realistic a way as possible, or maybe I just felt like that because of the video.

x

Jutsu list:

Kuchiyose no jutsu: Summoning technique

Kage bunshin no jutsu: Shadow Clone/Replication technique

Kawarimi no jutsu: Replacement technique

Gikochinai no jutsu: Stiffness technique

Hebi-hyouhi no jutsu: Snake skin technique

Sen'eijashu: Hidden shadow snake hands

Bunshin no jutsu: Clone/Replication technique

Jutsu shou: Technique neutralisation (Sarutobi used this in his fight against Orochimaru, against the third Edo Tensei)

Bunshin daibakuha no jutsu: Clone great explosion technique

Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu: Fire style: Great Fireball technique

Ninpou: Kirigakure no jutsu: Ninja art: Hidden in the mist technique

Fuuton: Daitoppa: Wind style: Great breakthrough

Chikiri no jutsu: Blood mist technique

Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique

Shunshin no jutsu: Body flicker technique

Shiki Fujin: Dead Demon Consuming Seal, the seal that holds Kyubi within Naruto's body.

Raikiri: Lightning Edge

Hiru Banshou: Bouka no Jutsu: Leech All Creation: Attack Prevention Technique

Translations:

Moushiwake arimasen is a very formal way of apologising.

Doumo arigatou gozaimashita is a very formal way of expressing thanks for a deed that has finished.

Gomen is a very informal way of apologising.

Ohayou gozaimasu is a polite way of saying 'good morning', as opposed to the more informal 'Ohayou'.


	6. Too close for comfort

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, etc. etc. etc.. 

A/N: Thanks so very much, again, for your reviews!

And now for a chapter that my Naruto/Akki character would class "emotionally weak", i.e. "emo". Is emo the right word? Possibly not, I am not up to date with the slang you young whipper snappers use! ;-) This chapter is also significantly shorter than the previous one.

This chapter is late, again, and for that I apologise profusely. The agents responsible for this are as follows: term-time, _Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura_ (which I have not completed yet), the start of a replay of _Fallout_, the borrowing of _Shogun: Total War_ from a cousin, _Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri_, various attempts to get _Planescape: Torment_ to work with my widescreen laptop and the anime _Blood+_. I have no excuse aside from my low attention span and skill at procrastinating.

Poll results so far:

Naruto/Anko: 15

Naruto/Hinata: 1

Naruto/Kurenai: 1

Naruto/Tenten: 2

Please keep in mind that it does not necessarily have to be those three, or even just for Naruto either. Perhaps Kakashi needs some Tender Loving Care? It could be anyone, I am just not putting up those that haven't been mentioned yet. ;-) So... Temari, Sakura, Hinata, Anko, Tenten, Kurenai, zombie-Ino etc..

People really seem to like the idea of Naruto/Anko. Anyone care to explain why? Perhaps there is an aspect of my presentation I have missed? This does not mean I am against the pairing in any way (in fact I quite like the idea), it just does not seem so obvious to me...

Replies to reviews are in my forums!

About Naruto/Akki's mode of speech: as you probably know, up until now he has usually been speaking in an excessively polite and humble way. For those that this would have any meaning for, this includes the fact that he uses no elision whatsoever. That is, he pronounces Sasuke as Sas_u_ke, not as Sasske. This would come across as incredibly old-fashioned, as well as somewhat effeminate, as males in Japan tend, or are expected, to use elision to a greater extent than the female sex.

"Boo" speech

'Boo' thought

"**Boo**" Bijuu speech

'**Boo**' Bijuu thought

x

x

x

His footsteps echoed as he slowly walked down the tunnel that linked the tower directly to the Hospital, which served as the main route of travel to and from the tower. 'Kakashi will, hopefully, be too busy training Hinata and Sasuke to bother me, so I will have a good amount of free rein. I will ask him to give me the time from now until the exam off. I will then start stocking up on everything I will need... He really has been getting too close for comfort.'

There was a noise from the tower end of the tunnel. The contenders for the third exam, and their senseis, were just starting their way back to Konoha. He ignored it for the moment. 'Maybe I should go the onsen (hot spring) after training tomorrow? I should have some ramen as well... enjoy my last few weeks here as much as I possibly can... Wait, enjoy what?'

Some fast paced footsteps were getting closer, so he turned to see Kakashi running towards him. 'What is it that he wants now?' "Konichiwa, Kakashi-sensei," he said as he carried on walking.

"Akki-kun, why did you just forfeit? It doesn't seem like you."

'Fuck, I should have thought ahead more. What should I say, and why the fuck does he care? I suppose I will have to be honest...' "The title of Chunin does not mean much to me, sensei. It is for that reason that I have forfeited, since it is not worth an innocent life."

"You mean Lee?"

"Hai. He is supposed to be a Taijutsu specialist, and is better at it than Sasuke. Either I would fail to defeat him, or I would likely kill him due to the nature of my abilities. The first renders turning up useless, and the latter is morally indefensible. The ends, here, do not justify the means, Kakashi-sensei."

"Yes..." Kakashi said, looking behind him, thinking, 'It is a good thing Gai and Lee are not here to hear this... Oh, there's Hinata. She must have heard. I should tell her not to say a word.'

Kakashi smiled at him, causing a look of confusion to play across Naruto's face. He then walked up to him and began ruffling his hair.

Naruto stiffened, and felt very uncomfortable indeed. 'He really is getting too close for comfort.' He grabbed Kakashi's hand and lifted it gently off his head. Kakashi drew it away and let it fall by his side, before Naruto spoke: "Kakashi-sensei, I was wondering if I could have some time off? I am afraid that I have no interest in assisting Sasuke and Hinata in their training; I have goals to meet. I want to train myself in the period until the third exam, as if I hadn't forfeited, to perhaps get to a strength level where I could defeat Lee without necessarily killing him. I also have not used up any of my paid holiday time yet, so..."

"Really? I will speak to Hokage-sama, then, though I expect it will not be a problem. If it is, I will visit you."

"Hai. Doumo arigatou gozaimasu."

They carried on walking down the long tunnel, seemingly with nothing more to say.

Hinata, who was a few tens of metres behind them, had heard everything. 'He does not want to use the Shikotsumyaku against Lee?' She stared at Kakashi's back for a few moments. 'Truly, Kakashi-sensei seems right, Ak... Naruto is not a demon, and it is now clear he does not act like one.' She thought back through all the people she knew, through all the teams and in her family. 'In a way, he seems more human than some of them... He avoided any chance of taking Lee's life, while many would have tried the fight anyway, even if they did not intend a kill...'

Her head ached and her eyes watered, and her heart lurched and her shoulders shuddered, and she thought, 'Though I am a failure as a ninja, weak and worthless, I always consoled myself by saying that I was a kind person...' She lowered her head until her chin touched her neck, allowing the hot tears to slowly flow down her neck and her shaking breast as it shook with her silent sobs. 'And now it seems I am not even that!' She kept unsteadily walking forward, though she could no longer see where she was going. There was a sudden gentle pressure pushing back on her shoulders, and she stopped moving. She looked up to see Kakashi's blurred face ripple in front of her.

She heard him say, "Hinata-chan...? Is there something wrong...? Are you hurt?" She felt the pressure on her left shoulder disappear as he brought his hand up to wipe her eyes. As she saw more clearly, she noticed Naruto by Kakashi's side, staring at her with his normal expression, holding a roll of bandages by his thigh in his right hand, not needed this time. Her sobs intensified at this and became audible. 'That... face... Oh this is even worse. I am crying because I now have nothing to console myself with, a selfish reason... a selfish person, not a kind one...' Naruto's face then seemed strange, suddenly, reminding her of when Orochimaru had said his name. It is was totally dissimilar to that time, except that it was also different to how he normally looked. 'What is that? Pity? Concern? ... Regret? Regret for what?' She looked at Naruto in surprise.

Naruto's eye's widened in confusion, and then in desperation. He quickly swivelled so that no one could see his face. He clutched it in his left hand before running away down the corridor. 'Oh, shit, I can't take it any more,' he thought, 'First I injure her, then my name is revealed, then confirmed, my ability is revealed, Kakashi-sensei gets too close for comfort, I get drawn against Lee, I forfeit, I then explain it, Kakashi-sensei gets too close again, then she starts sobbing like a frustrated maid and then, somehow, I just made things worse, and now I can't even keep control of my face. I am a wreck! Recent events have taken me beyond the limit of my emotional endurance... I want to just disappear... I have lost too much, this week, and the stakes are so high...'

Kakashi turned as the boy ran away from them, in a state of some confusion. He was then startled to see that the roll of bandages Naruto had been holding was lying partially unraveled on the floor a little way away, dropped during the run. It disturbed him. It was sloppy. Naruto was not sloppy. Naruto was calm, quiet and collected. He did not suddenly run away without an obvious reason.

Kakashi turned back to his other student, who was looking past him in shock, and noticed that the other teams were getting close. "Come on, Hinata," he said, "let's talk outside."

x

x

He locked the door behind him and ran along the wall of the kitchen and flung his bag into the middle of the floor, leaving a trail in the dust. He opened the door to his room, entered, and shut it again before leaping onto his bed. He panted for a few minutes, before removing from a drawer in his bedside table a bottle. The bottle contained a milky-white liquid, nigori sake.

'Ah, sake, may your sweet taste usher me into sleeps embrace, calm the fox and redden my face, and make me forget, for a while, my circumstances in a haze of... hell... intoxication... ... Feck... I can't even use language as well normal... gah! As well _as is typical for me!_'

He tried to open the bottle, but it was shut tight. He tried again, and succeeded to spill sake all over the file he had open on his bedside table. 'Ah, shit, I hadn't finished reading that... Might as well finish it now before it becomes unreadable...'

x

x

"I-I just realised that he was human, Kakashi-sensei, when I overheard your conversation and... I felt so bad for how I viewed him, I suppose."

"I see..."

"And now I feel I am worth nothing, not as ninja and now no longer as a person..."

'Eh, what?' thought Kakashi in surprise, 'Since when has she felt this way? Is it recent, is it old? How come I have not noticed? Have I paid her too little attention?' "What do you mean?"

"I used to think of myself as a kind p-person, but I can't now..."

"No, no... I meant your comment on being worth nothing as a ninja."

She stopped still, as if she regretted blurting out something she hadn't meant to. "A-Ano..."

He rubbed his temples. 'I need a drink...' He looked over the grass of the training area they were sitting in, before sighing. "Anyway, why do you no longer 'think of' yourself 'as a kind person'?"

"A-Ano... It is just because I viewed him so badly for all this time, when he has done nothing to me..."

He leant back on his elbows and looked at the clouds. "Perhaps, rather than lamenting for the fact that you followed the majority view, you should be happy for yourself now, as you no longer do," he said softly, but with a harder edge on the last phrase.

She looked up at him, wide-eyed in almost-happiness, before she looked down again, having caught his veiled, bitter rebuke. "Hai..." she whispered. 'Kakashi-sensei... seems sad. Whenever he looks at Naruto, he seems sad. Whenever he sees his face...'

"A-Ano... Kakashi-sensei, why does Naruto-san's face look like it does?"

"Hmmm? What do you mean? The cheek marks?"

"No, I meant his facial expression. It... well, it makes me feel uncomfortable..."

He turned his head towards her, squinting a little at her. "Ha... I don't know, and I think he is the only one who does. Unfortunately, the record of him is missing an entire year of information."

"A whole year?!" she asked, astonished. "How could that happen?"

"Well..." he started, but stopped. He then started again, "I am afraid that I do not want to go into that at this time, Hinata-chan."

"Oh..."

There were a few seconds of silence before Kakashi stood back up and started walking away, before turning back and saying, "By the way, I do not want you to speak of what happened today: whatever Naruto and I said to each other that you overheard, and of course this conversation, is not to be told to anyone. Understand?"

"Hai."

x

July 5th:

Balancing on the rail, Naruto walked along the edge of the pool outside the onsen building. He looked straight down since otherwise, as he was facing south, he would have been dazzled by the noon sun. He hopped across the gap that accounted for the bridge before continuing. There did not seem to be anyone around, so he used the opportunity to play this childish game without worrying what people would think. He didn't even bother controlling his face.

He was interrupted by a soft chuckling sound from his left. He froze, mid-step, and then turned to the source of the sound. It was a man with long, white hair wearing quite traditional clothing, though in rather eccentric colours. Naruto relaxed. 'He must be an outsider, I would have remembered his appearance otherwise. What is he doing? Peeking into the women's section of the onsen? What a pitiful person...'

He dropped down to the ground and forced his face back into its usual expression. He then quietly walked up to the man. Quietly enough to easily go unnoticed by a civilian, yet loudly enough not to be taken to be a threat by anyone who might be dangerous.

He stopped when he was standing right behind the man, who appeared to be oblivious. 'There does, however, seem to be something familiar about him... as if I have seen him before, but I do not recognise him as being a villager. Did I see a photograph of him somewhere?' He thought hard for a moment. 'Peeks at women at hot springs, carries an overlarge scroll, long white hair... No, it can't be...' He thought back to his short stay at the tower, when he had looked up some information on Orochimaru and the Sannin. There had been a photograph of all three of them. 'It is, it must be. Jiraiya, whose books Kakashi-sensei loves so much. What is he doing _here_? Isn't he supposed to be out of the country? ... Hmmm... He is famous for being a summoner of frogs, like the Yondaime. It would be very useful if I got my name on that contract... Could I possibly use my status to my advantage here?'

He stepped to the right of the man and looked into a gap between the boards. 'Tch. As expected. How sad.' He turned his head towards the white-haired-one, and said, "Konichiwa, Jiraiya-sama."

The man swiftly turned to him and whispered frantically, "Shhh! I am not here! I am not in Konoha!"

Naruto turned back to the gap and said, "That is a shame. Kakashi-sensei is an avid reader of your books. I had hoped to persuade you to sign a book for him, to show my gratitude to him."

"Hmmm..." replied Jiraiya disinterestedly, turned back to his gap. A few moments later, though, he turned again to Naruto. "Kakashi? Do you mean Hatake Kakashi?"

"Hai."

"You are a student of Kakashi-kun?"

Naruto turned his head back towards him, leaving his cheek no longer obscured by his hair, and said, "Hai."

Jiraiya looked at him for a moment before asking, "Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto allowed himself to sigh. 'I might as well give up right now.' "Hai, Jiraiya-sama."

Jiraiya stood up and looked at him for a while. "When would you be giving this copy to Kakashi?"

"September 15th, his birthday, Jiraiya-sama. At least, that is the most likely time." 'I suppose I will leave then, also? I am beginning to like this gift idea... Maybe I will even be able to use it to prevent them chasing me? Gratitude for trying to get to me, acknowledgement of the attempt, apology for causing the attempt to fail and leaving, and explanation, suitably abridged, of course. I suppose that it is only fair. As for that date, it should be fine. I have been progressing at a good speed for the last few months, given the gems of information Kakashi has given me. I am probably near the limit of what Konoha can offer me. There is little point in remaining here for long, especially if I get a summoning contract, which would give me a good chance against almost anything. If it turns out that that is too early... Well, I either would need to scrap that plan or wait an entire extra year...'

In the time that Naruto had been musing, Jiraiya had taken a book out of his pocket and scribbled something inside. He took it from the man's hand when it was offered to him and bowed deeply.

"Stop that," said Jiraiya, "It's embarrassing..."

"Hai, Jiraiya-sama," he replied, straightening up. "What do I owe you?"

Jiraiya made a face that indicated that he was above such matters. "Nothing, I sell plenty more."

"Doumo arigatou gozaimashita."

Jiraiya nodded and then seemed to study his face, as if in thought. He was interrupted by Naruto speaking again: "Ano... I am wondering if it would be possible for you to allow me onto your Frog Contract."

Jiraiya raised his eyebrows and stifled a laugh, before saying, "Really? Any reason why I should do that?"

"You should do that because, out of us, you are the only one that wishes to keep his stay in this village a secret."

"Ohoho, really? What then prevents me from killing you now? Actually, don't answer that question. I know the answer."

Naruto allowed himself to smile. "Good. Is that a yes then? I want to become stronger than the contestants in the third exam."

"Oh? You are going to be participating in the third Chunin Exam?"

"No, and that is why I want to be stronger than them."

"Ah... I see. Hehe... In that case, fine. Meet me here tomorrow, about noon."

"Doumo arigatou gozaimasu."

'Hmmmph...' thought Jiraiya as he watched the boy enter the onsen building, 'He wasn't as forlorn as I had heard. This is probably a good thing; it will be easier to protect him now. ... Could I get him to be like he was in the book, despite what has happened? I wonder...' He then heard conversation from beyond the fence and turned back to his occupation, and desperately kept his giggling at a low volume.

x

x

Kakashi walked up the stairs of the block of flats he lived in, his eyes drooped and tired, and his vision blurred. He was drunk again, though, this time, it was not because of Naruto.

They had just found out that Asuma's team had all been killed during the second exam and their sensei was understandably upset. They had headed to the bar, Kakashi, Asuma, Gai, Kurenai, Anko (who had delivered the news) and a couple of others. Asuma had drunk heavily, and they had followed, with Anko quickly falling into her normal routine of forgetting, totally, what the occasion was. She had even asked Asuma for a dance a few times, forgetting each time why she had been rejected before. Eventually they had had to drag Asuma back to his flat, which was in the same building as Kakashi's, and Kurenai had agreed to put him to bed.

He walked down the corridor until he came to his own door. He unlocked and entered it, leaning against it when he was in his room. He sighed. The funeral was going to be the next day, and he wondered whether he should get his team to attend.

His eyes fell onto his window sill, and the photographs that stood on it. He looked at the one of his current team: Sasuke stood on one side, smirking at the camera. Next to him stood Hinata, smiling meekly next to him. Kakashi himself was standing next to Hinata, but Naruto was not directly next to him. On the day, he had stepped a metre or so away and only half of him could be seen on the picture, and his head was facing out of the picture frame, as if distracted by something else.

'Naruto won't come, and Sasuke will still be in the hospital. That much is obvious. Will Hinata go? Did she know them? It would be good if she did, since I did get Asuma to agree to train her for the third exam so I could focus on Sasuke.'

He sat on his bed and took a notebook out of his pocket. 'Right, so Sasuke will be facing Tenten first, and then either Lee or one of the Sand nin. What should I teach him?'

x

x

_He sat on the end of a bed in a room that was unfamiliar to him. The window gave a view of a metropolis the likes of which he had never seen before except in books. It looked western; there was Cyrillic writing everywhere, and the language was Novgorodian. The writing was mainly on the many billboards that could be seen from the window, advertising so many mundane things that he wondered how they ever managed to capture the imagination of the potential consumer._

_His muses were interrupted by a sudden pressure around his upper arms and chest. He expected his body to stiffen due to the sudden bodily contact, as he did currently, but his body remained relaxed. Involuntarily, his head turned downwards to see the arms that were around him. They were bare as far as he could see, so the owner was likely wearing either nothing or very little. He also felt a pressure on his back, though it was uneven, concentrating around his shoulders and on two areas lower down on his back. He surmised that these were the other person's shoulder's and breasts, respectively. He also noticed that his body seemed older, somehow, than it did today. He was also naked._

_He brought his hands up and gripped the arms that trapped him to his place, enjoying their warmth. As he did this, he felt the other person's hair brush against his own, and then the other's face against his. The embrace tightened, including the facial element, such that their eyelashes touched. He could feel her every blink._

_He felt the muscles in her cheek pull up as she smiled, and then he felt her jaw drop open as she spoke, "Aishiteru..."_

'Hah, such futile hopes I live for...'

He lifted himself up to a sitting position in the onsen and then inspected his hands. 'I must have been asleep for a while;' he thought, 'my hands have more wrinkles than the Sandaime's!'

He was about to stand up and step out of the onsen when a voice drunkenly drove everything else out of his attention like a barge and a lily on the surface of a canal. Not that there were any canals in the Fire country: they couldn't afford it. "Kon_ich_iwa, Ak. Kun..."

He looked up at the barrier to see Anko's head leering at him from over the top of it. He could barely smell the reek of alcohol on her breath, despite their separation and the sulphurous smell of the onsen.

'Eh? What now? What could a drunken snake queen want with _me_?'

x

Earlier...

Anko stumbled away from the group of jounin that escorted Asuma, shielding her eyes from the daylight that was so much brighter than the light of the bar. She giggled. She had forgotten why they had got plastered, as well as her more daily troubles. Ignorance was bliss.

She staggered along the road towards the springs, clutching a bottle of sake she had swiped from under the counter. The street swayed as she reached the onsen building, so she leant on it for support. After steadying herself, she entered the building.

Immediately inside, there was an intersection: left for male, right for female. She turned right. She came to the sparse women's changing room, which was empty as most people had gone back to work.

As she stepped into the room, she tripped over a raised floorboard and fell forward. She automatically rolled forward in the drop before landing, smacking her palms against the ground to lessen the fall. She landed with her upper back on the floor and with her legs caught on the coat stand in the middle of the room. Her trench coat fell off of her chest and her skirt, such as it was, now covered even less of her than it had before. Jiraiya, who had left just a few minutes earlier to find other data sources once the onsen had emptied, would have been disappointed to miss this if he ever heard of it.

She cackled hysterically for a few minutes before righting herself. She then ripped off her trench coat and her other 'clothes' before running cackling into the females' onsen itself and jumping energetically into the pool, splashing hot water everywhere.

There was a moan from the other side of the onsen, the mens' section. "Hmmm?" she grunted.

She stood back up and leapt lightly to the barrier and, using chakra, pulled her dripping body up it. When she reached the top she saw Naruto wake and inspect his hands. She giggled to herself and then shouted, "Kon_ich_iwa, Ak. Kun..."

She leered at him when he stared up at her. His expression betrayed both surprise and apprehensive curiosity. She grinned at him, before assuming a mock-stern expression, and said, "You have upset and disappointed me, Akki-kun. Are you prepared to pay the penalty?" She giggled.

He stood up, staring at her as if she was out of her mind. 'What is she slobbering about, now?' He backed against the wall of the room and assumed a 'ready' stance, and revealing his body completely to her.

She giggled again, and pulled herself over the barrier so that she was now sitting atop of it, facing him. She then drew her face into a mock-sad expression and said, "You showed such promise, such potential to spill enemy blood in the exams, and you gave it up. Why? Why did you deprive me so?" She laughed violently and began falling backwards. She quickly held the barrier with her hand, preventing herself from falling completely off, though her entire torso did drop out of Naruto's view. When she got back up again, she had the stolen sake bottle in her other hand, and she then downed it before continuing. "Demons are supposed to spill blood, no? You are going against your purpose, little Akki-chan. How shall you make amends?"

"I haven't a clue what you're blathering about, old woman!" He shouted, his eyes showing real confusion and annoyance. He was tired and had not yet fully recovered from the previous few days' stress.

"**I like this woman...**"

'I am sure--'

"Old?!" she shrieked, throwing the bottle over her shoulder, causing it to plop into the water on the other side. "Old?" she asked again, dropping down to the ground in the mens' section. "I am only twenty-four! Tell me, does my body look old to you, brat?!" she shouted at him, spreading out her arms, displaying her chest as she staggered around in the shallows. She then giggled again before launching herself at him. "You are asking for a penalty aren't you? Ahahahaha..."

'What the fuck is going on with this insane lady?'

"**Ahahaha... oh the irony of your dream and then this and your reaction! You are pathetic, bratling! Surely you should be seizing this opportunity like any self-respecting male?**"

'Shut_up!_ If I want your opinion I will ask for it, dog-breath!'

He dodged Anko's drunken lunge as she tried to grab him and jumped to the other side of the room. He was finding it difficult to concentrate:

"**Dog-breath? Who do you think you are, you glorified ape?**"

'Shut up!'

"**Fox, not dog!**"

'Shut u--'

His thoughts were jarred out of comprehension very definitely and very suddenly. He was being squeezed by the naked woman and had been lifted off his feet in the process. Worse, his breathing had been stopped by the intrusion of a long tongue down his throat that seemed to be trying to grope everything at once. He was left in this state as Anko staggered around for a few seconds before she slipped backwards.

They fell into the pool, Anko first, and splashed about for a few moments before Naruto managed to free himself. He stood up and staggered back until his back hit the wall and panted, eager to breathe again, as he stood ready to leap away again if necessary.

The second offensive, however, did not come. The water swirled around as a result of the previous disturbance, but Anko was not visible to him. A few moments later, though, her body floated up to the surface and just drifted there.

'Shit!' He jumped forward into the water and grabbed her around her waist and dragged her out and laid her on her side before checking her breathing. He sighed with relief. 'She's just unconscious. Stupid woman, going to an onsen when pissed up to the eyeballs... She must have hit her head against the rocks.'

He rubbed his temples. 'Gah... My week goes from the pit of hell to the absolutely bizarre... Still, what was that all about? She really wanted me to spill blood? What a weirdo, however ironic it is for me to think that. And why did she attempt to... violate me, anyway? How drunk was she?'

"**You really are pathetic...**"

'SHUT. UP!'

"**Just saying--**"

'DON'T!'

He stood up and grabbed her underneath each shoulder and dragged her into the male changing room. 'Uurrgghh... How will I explain this? Will she even remember? Guh... Another reason to leave soon...'

When he reached his stuff, he grabbed the towel that he had brought for him to use and quickly dried her off, before dressing her in his clothes. After tying the towel around himself to reduce somewhat the unwanted attention he would receive, he lifted her up and carried her out of the onsen building and then to the hospital, taking as many side-routes as possible.

The Kyubi was having a field-day.

x

x

She walked down an aisle in the Records Department in the Library, letting her small pale hand touch against all the files as she passed. When she got to the relevant section, that of genin graduated in the last year, she immediately searched for 'Akuma-Gaki Akki'. When she found it, she noticed that it was quite thin. She opened it to see all the essential details that you would expect: exam grades from the academy and so on. It did not, however, contain the information she was interested in: that of Naruto's life before he entered the academy, since the document started with that. There was, however, a note at the top noting that his name had been legally changed to Akuma-Gaki Akki from Uzumaki Naruto on that day, and that earlier details would be found in the relevant section.

She replaced it in its slot before walking across the building until she got to the relevant section. It was quite small and the files there looked comparatively under-handled. She spent a few minutes searching before she found Naruto's file. It was thick, disproportionately so for one that only covered the first seven years of his life. She smiled to herself as she walked towards the tables of the study area, ignoring the curious gazes of the various journalists that were researching things themselves.

She dropped the file onto a table in an alcove away from the other people, hoping that it would prevent her from being disturbed. She then lifted a chair from the stack and carried it over to the table. It was only when she sat down that she noticed something odd about the file she had just found: it had a stamp on it that said:

"D-clearance

"Not to be read by unauthorised persons."

'How on Earth did a D-clearance rank document get here?' she thought. 'I have only ever heard of E-clearance, and that is ANBU entry-level...'

Her hand hesitated above the cover of the file as she contemplated whether she should read the file's contents. Eventually she concluded that, even if she did read it, it was unlikely that anyone would find out that she had, so she opened it.

The documents were rippled, as if they had had liquid spilled over them. The writing was fuzzy and difficult to read; the ink was obviously not totally insoluble to whatever had spilled over it. She was certain that she could detect a faint whiff of alcohol, but could not verify it.

She started reading. 'Uzumaki Naruto was born on the tenth of October and had the Kyuubi no Yoko, which was attacking the village at the time, sealed into him by the Yondaime Hokage hours later. It was not long until the erroneous assumption that he _was_ the monster fox became widespread...' She made an expression of disappointment. 'Is that all, no detail at all? I hope the rest of the document isn't so disappointing...' She then resumed reading: 'For the first five years of his life he lived in the Konoha Orphanage, under constant protection from several ANBU squads, directed by Captain Hanone. The next eight pages detail the eleven known assassination attempts on him, all of which were quickly stopped, never directly threatening the target.' She stopped. 'Eleven assassination attempts on him? But... Wait... The Kyuubi rampage would have been fresher in the memory then, so possibly it should be expected, but still... Eleven attempts?' She looked at the first one. 'Five days after his birth? And the next? Ten days? The next? Thirty days! And the next? Forty days! October the tenth the following year, his birthday. The next, a few days later. Then October the fifth on the next year, October tenth, October ninth, October tenth, October tenth...'

'It says that a few months after the last attempt, he was removed from the orphanage to live on his own in a flat. At the age of five? That's ridiculous! How can a five year old run a house? No significant details, though. Too sensitive or too mundane, I wonder? Probably too mundane; they probably just delivered him take-away meals or something...'

She turned the page to read the rest of the current sentence, but the page ended after just a few words; the rest was blank. The page after that, however, was full, and had its own header and a different formatting style. This page was also in a worse condition that the previous ones, seemingly at the epicentre of the spill. She could just barely make it out:

'Incident report, submitted by Captain Hanone.'

She skimmed down until she saw a readable line, 'After having captured Uchiha Kouta, Fukurou and I rushed to check on the target. When we arrived all we found were the bloody bodies of two more assassins, and prints, which did not last long, of a small child, on all fours, rushing out of the door and then jumping from roof to roof. It is suspected that the Kyuubi may have taken control, if only temporarily (This has been confirmed through questioning of the child since the incident – Ed), which would be the reason why the target managed to kill his attackers and escape us.'

She stopped as she read the last sentence. 'The Kyuubi took over? Is he still dangerous then, or...' An image of Kakashi appeared in her face. 'No, no... He hasn't really acted that way...' She then saw images of his reaction to Tazuna, then to Orochimaru. 'Well... Kakashi-sensei knows about these incidents, and he does not think it... a problem...' She paused, again, before she was able to push the doubt out of the front of her mind.

Her right hand gripped the bottom right of the page, in preparation to turn it over, when, while absentmindedly rubbing it between her thumb and forefinger, she felt the smoothness of graphite. She looked at that area of a the paper to see some pencil scribbling there, which seemed to have smudged, unfortunately. Careful not to smudge it more she read what was left of it: 'Hanone? They mention him with a copy of Icha Icha Paradise. Kakashi? Hanone, fang. Hatake Sakumo, White Fang. Hatake Sakumo --- Hatake Kakashi. He is alxxxx xxxxxxx xx xx xxx-.' The rest was smudged into oblivion.

'That writing... I recognise it from somewhere...' She then remembered back to the first exam. 'That is is Ak—Naruto's writing! And the smell of alcohol... That time...'

"_I just like the drink."_

"_Really? You are officially an adult since you graduated, but… isn't that an odd choice? Many older people find that drink too strong for them to 'like' it, so why do you choose it?"_

_Akki stared at him, and his voice came out slow and level: "I like its pureness of purpose. It is not there to excite the gourmet, or to have as a light drink. Its purpose is to intoxicate, and do it quickly, to wipe away the memories and all inhibitions, to reduce men to a state where all that matters is to do something, or not depending on the mood, with no concern for anything else. It is a drink for those who want to forget themselves." Akki stood up, looking down at his sensei. "That is why I like and drink it, Kakashi-sensei."_

'Yes, it is definitely Naruto who wrote this stuff down, and spilled stuff over this, and recently too... and how did he get this document? Did he take it himself from... wherever it would have been? But that would mean he would be much more skilled than he lets on... If he was so strong, then why did he not do better at defending Sasuke, and why wouldn't he have been able to defeat Lee non-lethally if he was that skilled? Or is he hiding his strength for some purpose? Should I think again about what I should think of him? Hiding his strength, possibly at the expense of someone else's, Sasuke's, life? I don't see how that could possibly be justified...

'If he did steal it, though, why put it back here? Or... Did he borrow the one that was here and switch it for the secret one!? The would be the only logical reason to bring it here and put it in the shelves with the others...

'But... Possibly he found it here like I did? That would be even more mysterious... Should I tell Kakashi-sensei...? Oh, no, of course not! I have just been reading D clearance information without authorisation... There is nothing I can do but find out for myself...'

She read the note again, and this time its content got through to her. 'Wait... _Kakashi-sensei was in ANBU?_ And was _Hanone?!_ But that means that he has known Naruto-kun since he was very very small...' She thought about the conversation with her sensei the day before:

'_Kakashi-sensei... seems sad. Whenever he looks at Naruto, he seems sad. Whenever he sees his face...'_

"_A-Ano... Kakashi-sensei, why does Naruto-san's face look like it does?"_

"_Hmmm? What do you mean? The cheek marks?"_

"_No, I meant his facial expression. It... well, it makes me feel uncomfortable..."_

_He turned his head towards her, squinting a little at her. "Ha... I don't know, and I think he is the only one who does. Unfortunately, the record of him is missing an entire year of information."_

"_A whole year?!" she asked, astonished. "How could that happen?"_

"_Well..." he started, but stopped. He then started again, "I am afraid that I do not want to go into that at this time, Hinata-chan."_

'That is why he looks at him that way! I wonder what Naruto was like before his absence... I will read that later, though. There is other stuff... Hmmm... the alcohol spillage... I wonder how Naruto felt about finding out, and it must have been very recent... They both know something about each other that they pretend not to know... And the other stuff... Hatake Sakumo, White Fang... It sounds familiar. Is he the father of Kakashi-sensei? Sensei never talks about himself, but Naruto seems to know something... Well, since I am in here anyway, I might as well take the opportunity to find some things out about my sensei. For now, though, I shall continue with THIS document...'

She, finally, turned the page. It was entitled 'The missing year'. She read the few lines there were. 'Information on this period in the subject's life is scant as the Sandaime Hokage granted the subject's wish not to be questioned. However, questions of probability can be asked based on the artifacts he carried with him when he returned: rags and a bottle cap "medallion". From this it can be deduced that he is likely to have been in the vicinity of Fire City, since the brand of drink on the cap, водочка, was only available there at that time.'

'That is it?' she thought. 'It is as Kakashi-sensei said...'

As she read through the pages on what happened after his return, a thought kept occurring to her: 'His responses seem very... 'mature' for a six year old, even though some are stereotypically childish...' As she read further, she came across references to comments by people, including Ibiki, the first examiner, pointing this out as well, and well as suggesting that he may possess some 'autistic' traits, based on casual observation. Hinata recalled that she had thought the same when they were in the Wave, due to not being able to understand his facial expressions well, but had let it be forgotten. 'Might he really be autistic, then? Maybe I should search the clan library...'

She read on to find out that attempts had been made to get Naruto to undertake tests, but he had refused to cooperate, and they were entirely optional. He had objected on the grounds of 'intrusive examinations by Yamanaka clan members', but had even declined tests without such measures, even when Kakashi had tried to persuade him, several times, the last being just a few days before the Chunin Exam started. 'Yes...' she thought, 'This was stolen very recently...'

She had now finished with this document, and she wondered what to do with it. 'I think I will just put it back, for now...'

She folded the file closed and, as she was about to stand up, a voice from behind her said, "I hope that I am an entertaining read, Hinata-sama."

She swiveled around to see Naruto standing behind her previous position. "A-An-no... I was j-just c-curious, Ak-kki-k-kun..."

Naruto seemingly ignored her incomprehensible gibberish and started speaking again: "Kakashi-sensei's file is under Famous Clans, and so is Sasuke's, but for the latter you will be wanting the file on the Uchiha Massacre which is in the Events section. For Hatake Sakumo you want the Suicides section, and for the files on the Yondaime, Obito and Rin, you will be wanting the Killed In Action section."

She stood there in shock at his seeming obliviousness, quiet as a mute. After a moment, he backed away and said, "I have interrupted you. Moushiwake arimasen."

He bowed and left.

She breathed again.

She stepped over to the shelves to replace the file. 'Wait, what did he mention Sasuke and the Yondaime for, and who are Obito and Rin, and how do I find put their family names?'

x

'Shit, shit, shit! What the fuck is she doing reading up on me, with that file as well!'

"**I told you your plan was flawed.**"

'Shut it you... you...'

"**I win at last!**"

'Now is _not_ the time!'

"**It**_**will**_** come up later though, I assure you. I have thought up the **_**perfect**_** game.**"

'I am sure.'

He pushed open the library door and stepped outside, and started his walk home. 'Yet another incentive for me to leave quickly, all in just a few days. I wonder, is there some sort of Fate that has an odd sense of humour, and is trying to give me hints? Rubbish, of course, but I would like someone to blame...'

He leafed through the file he held in his hands. 'Well, at least the day has not been all bad. I finally have a nearly flawless escape method, and I have the medical ninjutsu section to thank, of all places! With this, a kage bunshin and a live animal, I will be able to perform the perfect technique for my circumstances. In fact, this and the training with Jiraiya will make the Chunin Exam Finals the perfect escape opportunity for me. I just need this and a rope.'

x

Naruto sat on his bed, ready for an early night after an exhausting and frustrating day. 'Well, fox, what is the game then?'

"**In this game you shall say your words in verse,**

**Or else in style that is alliterate,**

**Or rhyme your words in prose or verse,**

**Anything else I will not tolerate.**"

'That was abysmal, brain dead animal.'

"**One 'a' three times, 'al' twice, 'b' twice, though your rhythm was poor. No matter, all that matters is that you do it. It is simply in your own interest to do it well, since this game applies to spoken conversation only, not the other way around!**"

'Out loud? I will seem an absolute moron. I can only do crap stuff!'

"**Well, you are not planning to stay here are you? What does it matter? At least this way I can get some cringe-inducing humour, and we test the notion that warrior-poets get laid.**"

'You bitchy bastard born from a berk's cold cunt!'

"**Poor. Berk and cunt are synonyms, you cunt!**"

'Shut it, berk! The more common meaning for it is "idiot", not cunt, in common parlance, you precious prat!'

"**Hey, I won that game. You cannot resurrect it!**"

'Damn. Anyway, must sleep.'

"**Dream the iambic pentameter!**"

'Shut up...'

x

x

July 6th:

The first light of day hit her face, and Anko moaned. Turning over, she sensed, despite her head-splitting headache, that she was not in her own bed. Hers was a futon, but her arm was hanging down from the bed. She opened her eyes a little, before the agony of the light caused her to firmly shut them again. It was all she needed, though: she knew now that she was in the hospital. 'What happened yesterday? What happened? How much did I drink?'

Keeping her eyes closed she touched the clothes she was wearing. 'What happened to by jacket, and my other clothes? Am I wearing hospital dress? I don't remember it being so uncomfortable, has their funding been reduced?'

She was interrupted by the sound of footsteps pounding into her ears, and of a squeaking wheel that seemed to tear into them. At last the squeaking stopped and the door opened. Someone stepped in. "Are you alright, Anko-san?" asked a woman's voice.

She sat up, shielding her eyes with her hand. She suddenly realised that her stomach, in fact her entire abdomen, ached, and she thought she could almost hear her gastric fluid sloshing about. She burped. She also realised how much she stank, and how dry her mouth felt.

A glass of water was pressed into her other hand. "Drink up, Anko-san," the nurse said, "you need to get yourself rehydrated."

She chugged the drink down, and then did so again several times as the nurse refilled the glass.

After a while, the nurse asked, "Are you alright, now, Anko-san?"

"Yes... yes I'm fine."

"Was it a good night? The boy who brought you in seemed so sweet, if a bit young. It seemed as if you were dressed in his clothes, since all he had was a towel and yours seemed too small for you--"

"What?" Anko butted in. She looked down at her arms to see that she was wearing what seemed to be a black yukata made of some coarse material. Realisation hit her: 'This is Akki's yukata! Why am I wearing this? What happened? I was at some sort of party, or something, I think. Someone had died? Why the party then? Oh, yes! Asuma's team had all died! ... Did I really ask Asuma to dance?' The staring faces of the other jounin flowed into her mind, and she shuddered. Even she would not go that far when sober... but she had not been sober. 'Then I went to the springs and... I can't remember. Akki was there, I think. What the fuck happened?'

By this time, the nurse was looking at her with a bit of concern, and waved her hand in front of Anko's face. Anko looked up and stared at her. 'Something's not quite right here...' "You aren't from around here, are you?"

Puzzled, the nurse answered, "Well, no, I just arrived a few days ago. I am a trainee. Why do you ask?"

Leaning back, Anko chuckled a bit to herself. "New to Konoha, huh? Have you heard the story of the demon-kid? The bakemono?"

"Huh? Oh yes. Outrageous isn't it, suffering such a vile creature to live in the place it damaged so badly...? I wonder what the Hokage is thinking..."

"Well, it seems you just met him."

"What!? Are you saying that boy is the one? The one killed those three clan heirs that we heard of yesterday?"

"Eh, what? He didn't kill them, it was one of the other examinees."

"Oh? How do you know? Everyone else says otherwise."

"I_should_ know, I was the examiner!"

"Oh, sumimasen..."

"Forget it."

x

x

"_Stop staring at me like that, thicko!" Shinji shouted at him._

_He blinked. "What are you talking about, Shinji?" He looked into Shinji's eyes again, trying desperately to discern what had riled his new friend so._

"_You are doing it again!"_

"_Doing what?"_

"_Looking at me strangely!"_

"_Looking at you strangely?"_

"_Stop it!"_

"_But I'm not doing anything. Stop being silly, it makes you look like an idiot."_

_A fist flew into his face from his right, accompanied by Kenshin's voice: "Don't call Shinji an idiot, you idiot!"_

"_I didn't! I just said he looked like one--"_

_He was interrupted again, this time by the fists of Shinji and Kisuke, and then their kicks. This would have continued, but the others were suddenly picked up by their parents, who did not look thrilled. Kisuke's father passed Kisuke to Shinji's father and knelt down in front of him and pulled him up. "Are you alright?" he asked._

"_Hai." Naruto replied. Suddenly, the man's face turned into one of astonishment. "Nani?" Naruto asked._

"_Your face... it's already healed..."_

The alarm went off. 'Blech...' He smacked the top of the clock, shutting off the sound. 'Why is the alarm on? I have my next month off...' He tried to get back to sleep, but to no avail. 'Damn it,' he thought, looking at the clock, 'It is going to be an age until noon. What am I to do in the meantime?' His eyes fell on a brown bundle on his windowsill. 'Great.'

x

He walked up the corridor of the hospital until he found the right room. He knocked. There was a grunt on the other side, and then of someone hastily spitting out some liquid into a sink. "Come in!" said Anko.

He pushed the door open to see Anko brushing her teeth, not facing him. "Ohayou gozaimasu."

She spun around, dribbling toothpaste onto the yukata, and then choked on it.

"**Speak poetically, idiot!**"

'What, that was perfectly fine! It rhymed, well, almost.'

"**No, it didn't.**"

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?!" Anko shouted across the room.

Akki pointed to the bundle under his arm and said, "I just brought you your clothes, that is all, Mitarashi-sama."

"**Oi!**"

'Forget it, the game is too silly. You will have to think of something else.'

"**Damn you!**"

Anko stared at him for a while. He used the opportunity to dump the bundle onto the bed and was about to turn to go when Anko spoke: "It is Anko, brat."

"Moushiwake arimasen, Anko-sama."

"Why did you have my clothes?"

"You were unconscious."

"I know _that_. What happened before I fell unconscious?"

'Brilliant, she doesn't remember.' He sighed. "You were drunk--"

"I know that."

Akki told her exactly what happened, over her increasingly loud chuckling, and then waited for her to stop. When she did, he said "Are you satisfied, Anko-sama?"

She grinned at him in the way that really worried her subordinates on the exam board, and said, "So, 'are you prepared to pay the penalty' A-kun?"

"What are you talking about?" 'A-kun? Why so familiar? What is going on here?'

"**She's coming on to you--**"

'Don't be ridiculous.'

She grinned again and picked a kunai out from her pouch, which was on the bed. She tossed it at his head at what she judged to be a low speed. The boy did not move, and the knife sliced through his face, horrifying Anko, until it came to a rest and he disappeared in a puff of smoke. It had been a clone.

She stared at the place where the kunai had dropped. She was sure that no jutsu was cast, so he had sent a clone along and not come along himself, which was generally considered extremely bad practice, rude in fact. She eventually stopped staring and shook her head and smiled to herself. 'He is a little bit like how I used to be...' She thought for a moment. 'Well, perhaps a _very_ little. Maybe?' She rested her head on her hand and let the smile slip off her face. She briefly felt a pang, as if she was hungry, but it was higher up, in her chest. She sighed. 'Mayhap a very very little...'

Lying against the ceiling of the corridor outside the room, Naruto carefully released his breath. 'That proves it, you are being ridiculous. She is simply a lunatic.'

x

_She sat on the ground in front of the fire, next to her sensei. They had been sent together, alone, on a mission for reasons that escaped her. She had finally, after hours of probing, managed to get Kakashi-sensei to open up to her, and he was just now telling her all about his past in full detail, though for some reason she couldn't seem to quite catch it. Eventually she embraced him as he sobbed on her shoulder. She rested her head in his hair, which seemed to smell of... Dogs? _

_Suddenly, his hair seemed to transform into a blonde shock, but when she blinked it reverted to how it had been before. 'Eh?'_

She turned over as she heard a branch-house member knock on her door and tell her to wake up. She had spent hours the night before looking through all those files, and had been very late getting to sleep. When the knock recommenced, she moaned at the man to go away.

x

She looked through the shelves in the west wing of the mansion until she finally found her target: a book entitled 'The Broken Mirror: A Brief Introduction In Understanding The Body Language Of Individuals With Social, Developmental And Other Psychological Disorders.' It was old, from the style of its binding, but in very good condition. She surmised that its primary use must have been for assassinations of people known to have such disorders, which would be rare indeed. After all, most of the time it was unnecessary to understand the target's emotions, and the times when it was necessary was usually for heavily guarded, or personally powerful, people, reducing the incidence even more. It was also rather thick, strangely for a 'Brief Introduction', which tended to barely be above a hundred pages in length.

She opened it and skipped a few pages until she came to the table of contents. 'About the author, preface, acknowledgements, dedication, notes on the text... Introduction, then... a section on overactive or exaggerated expression? I can ignore all those. Active face and inactive body? Ano... Inactive face and active body. I don't think so... Understated or infrequent expression? Autistic spectrum disorders... The file mentioned autism didn't it?'

"Hinata."

She froze. She slowly turned around to face her father, hiding the book behind her back. "H-Hai?"

"What are you doing?"

She paled to a paler pale than previously and seemed to buckle slightly under the pressure of his gaze. "B-Betsuni(nothing)..."

He stepped up to her until she was staring into his abdomen. She looked up at him and said, "N-Nani?"

He grabbed her arm: the one that reached behind her. It seemed to go limp with shock and the book dropped to the floor. He leant over to pick it up, while she stayed stock still. Straightening himself, he scanned the book's title before looking at her enquiringly. "You have a mission?" he asked, staring at her face. Her eyes widened a little before her eyelids settled back to her previous position. "You don't have a mission," he said, and he opened the book.

They stood there for a few minutes as he scrutinised the contents page. It seemed as if he was looking for any small indication he could find, even fingerprints. At last, he looked back at her again. "You have met an autistic individual?" Her eyes widened again, though, this time, the effect was more pronounced and lasted a little longer. He quirked his brow in response and said, "I see... It seems you may possess a mite of talent after all, however insufficient it may be." He was rewarded with a bitten down gasp partly through his sentence.

He turned and walked towards the door, but stopped just before it and turned his head back to his daughter, who had not moved, and said, "I should remind you, however, that one of the duties of a Hyuuga clan heir is not to put itself into unnecessary danger." He then placed the book on a table by the door.

He left. She breathed again.

A few moments later, she slowly made her way to the door and then back to her own room, in order to give herself at least an illusion of privacy in a place where everyone can see through walls.

Having flopped down onto her bed, she realised that she had forgotten the book. She stood back up again and walked back down the corridor towards the library. As she picked the book up from the table she played back to herself the last words Hiashi had said. 'Unnecessary danger? What does he mean by that? Are autistic people inherently more violent, or more likely to be violent, than people without the condition? Or does he mean...? Does he know...? Does he know that Naruto has been suspected of being autistic, or does he suspect that himself? Why would he say that, though, when he was the first person to explicitly tell me that he was not a demon?'

As she walked down the corridor back to her room an idea sifted into her consciousness. 'Possibly he means that those that have been mistreated in the past are in general more violent than average and, since Naruto fits that criterion, I might be in danger from him?' She then thought back to her experience the previous day reading through the files: 'Or... maybe... he means that, even though he is not demonic, he could be influenced by the Kyuubi's presence in some way?'

She closed her door, sat down on the bed and opened the book, and then leafed through until she got to the section on autism and began to read. 'Autism and related disorders not only impair the ability of the sufferers to correctly interpret body language and facial expressions (in the case of the former, its existence is often totally unnoticed), but also causes limited, near absent or simply abnormal expression in both cases, commonly with body language largely unused and facial expression limited. It should be kept in mind that the characteristics of autistics are open to much variation, so how one behaves can be widely at odds to another. With that in mind, this part of the book will deal with examples of deciphering their body language with a view to helping the reader do the same. But first, a few things you will need to know first...'

x

x

x

A/N: Again sorry for the delay. It really does not look much for several months' work, does it? Well, I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Hopefully the next one will arrive soon.

Thank you for the continuing reviews, they really do make it easier to motivate myself.

Jutsu list:

Kuchiyose no jutsu: Summoning technique

Kage bunshin no jutsu: Shadow Clone/Replication technique

Kawarimi no jutsu: Replacement technique

Gikochinai no jutsu: Stiffness technique

Hebi-hyouhi no jutsu: Snake skin technique

Sen'eijashu: Hidden shadow snake hands

Bunshin no jutsu: Clone/Replication technique

Jutsu shou: Technique neutralisation (Sarutobi used this in his fight against Orochimaru, against the third Edo Tensei)

Bunshin daibakuha no jutsu: Clone great explosion technique

Katon: Goukakyuu no jutsu: Fire style: Great Fireball technique

Ninpou: Kirigakure no jutsu: Ninja art: Hidden in the mist technique

Fuuton: Daitoppa: Wind style: Great breakthrough

Chikiri no jutsu: Blood mist technique

Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique

Shunshin no jutsu: Body flicker technique

Shiki Fujin: Dead Demon Consuming Seal, the seal that holds Kyubi within Naruto's body.

Raikiri: Lightning Edge

Hiru Banshou: Bouka no Jutsu: Leech All Creation: Attack Prevention Technique

Translations:

Moushiwake arimasen is a very formal way of apologising.

Doumo arigatou gozaimashita is a very formal way of expressing thanks for a deed that has finished.

Gomen is a very informal way of apologising.

Ohayou gozaimasu is a polite way of saying 'good morning', as opposed to the more informal 'Ohayou'.

Aishiteru: close to 'I love you'.

Onsen: 'hot spring'

Betsuni: 'nothing'


End file.
